The Problems with Magic
by Indigene Syke
Summary: When the Avengers get mixed up with the legendary figure Merlin, they have serious doubts about everything he says. Including his warnings that something major is coming. Something dangerous. So when it comes, they aren't exactly prepared.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **This is my first fanfiction, so hold with me please. This takes place after** ** _The Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron_** **and Season 5 of Merlin. It is before** ** _Civil War_** **, so not compliant with that at all. Constructive criticism is welcome.**

 **Disclaimer: I wish.**

* * *

Maria Hill frowned at the tablet computer in her hands. "We're getting some… strange energy readings in Europe, sir."

"What kind of readings, Hill?" The question came from one Nicholas J. Fury, former director of the government agency SHIELD. "Be specific."

Maria took a breath, and said haltingly, "The readings are similar to the readings SHIELD scientists recorded when they were studying the tesseract."

Fury closed his eyes, his jaw clenching. He hated that cube. It had cost thousands of people their lives. Not to mention that it seemed as if it had thrown off the balance of the universe. Since New York, things had been strange, to say the least.

New, super-powered individuals had been popping up all over the place since then. Vision, the Maximoff girl, and the Falcon were only a few among many. To add to that issue, the amount of catastrophic events had risen.

As SHIELD no longer officially existed, due to the events surrounding the Winter Soldier, Fury had been finding it a bit trickier to get things done. Less manpower meant less information.

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep back the headache that had suddenly blossomed there. "See if Barton and Romanoff are available for a reconnaissance mission. Engage only if necessary. Figure out what this is, and get back to me as soon as possible. Get this under control."

Hill nodded, the skin around her eyes tight. She could tell that something big was going to go down. "Yes, sir," she said, already reaching for her phone. "I'll get them right on it."

* * *

Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, known as Black Widow and Hawkeye respectively, stalked through a dense forest, toward a remote, unnamed, European lake. They were currently arguing.

"I still think this is a very bad idea," Clint told Natasha, hopping over a fallen tree. "We're hiking through the woods towards an unknown, possibly hostile… thing. Come on, Nat, you know this is a stupid thing to do! We have no idea what we're getting into!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. She pushed a branch out of her way, smirking when it smacked Clint in the face. She could hear him cursing under his breath. They'd had to leave the Quin-Jet several miles back in a clearing. Clint was not happy about the trek through the woods. He had been complaining for the last half hour. This was his current angle.

"We're following orders, Barton," Natasha said over her shoulder. "This is the mission. Deal with it. We're almost there anyway, so shut your trap."

Clint huffed. He tugged his quiver higher over his shoulder. His compound bow was in his hands, an arrow already nocked. He was tired. And annoyed. This mission had interrupted a vacation to Disneyland with his children and wife. But apparently, it had been _important and very urgent._

Whatever. Clint didn't care. Unless the world was going to end. Then he did care, a little bit. But why did world-ending disasters always happen at the most inconvient times?

Natasha tapped the sensor clutched in her hand. They were getting closer. No more than a quarter of a mile. "Stay quiet!" Natasha hissed, to silence Clint's grumbling. "We're almost there."

* * *

The setting sun was sending glistening flecks of light off the lake in front of Merlin. The Lake of Avalon. The water rippled gently where Freya had just disappeared into it. Since Freya's death, and her subsequent position as the Lady of the Lake, Merlin had had one day a year, every year, from sunup to sundown, with her.

Today had been that day. It had been wonderful. The sun had been bright. The wind had been cool. They'd had a picnic on the shores of the lake. They'd reminisced about old times. Merlin had regaled Freya with stories of his travels, and his long ago adventures with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Merlin had been waiting nearly sixteen hundred years for Arthur's return. Freya had told him that he'd have to wait a little longer. Merlin didn't mind the waiting as much as he used to. He'd used his numerous years to hone his skills, see the world, and learn as much as he could.

Merlin stared at the lake for just a minute longer. Then he let loose a long sigh, and stood, grabbing his hiking backpack, and tying his bandana more securely around his neck. Merlin still wore the same basic style of clothing; sturdy boots, heavy jeans, t-shirts, a camo army jacket from his time in the military, and a red and white bandana.

Merlin hitched his backpack up, and turned away from the lake. The woods were growing darker with the setting sun, but Merlin knew this forest well. He knew exactly how to get back to the small cottage he had on the borders of the closest town.

As Merlin stepped between thick tree trunks, tramping through the brush, something set his nerves on edge. Merlin grew more tense as the forest grew steadily darker. A twig snapped somewhere ahead of him and slightly to the left. Merlin snapped his gaze toward it, trying to keep his breathing quiet.

A branch creaked, closer this time. Merlin ducked behind a thick tree. He could see two dark shapes moving quietly through the trees, straight toward him.

* * *

Clint and Natasha were close. Very close. Of course, that was when things went a little bit crazy. The sensors on the device in Natasha's hand buzzed loudly, static echoing off the trees. There was an audible hiss, then it suddenly died. Natasha growled and tapped the screen. Nothing.

"We have to hurry," Natasha breathed in Clint's ear. "The sensors just went nuts. Whatever was causing those readings either knows we're here and is sending us a warning, or it's more powerful than we originally thought."

Clint nodded, fingering the fletching on his arrow. He could see the lake glinting through the thinning trees. And silhouetted against the shining lake, a figure. It was a person. A man, by the looks of it. The man ducked behind a tree when he saw the pair.

Natasha and Clint scanned the trees, as they moved forward, watching carefully for hostiles. The pair split up, heading in different directions around the tree. "Who's there?" Natasha called, fingers tight on the grip of her gun.

Behind the tree, Merlin frowned. He hadn't expected to see anyone else in the woods. There were hardly ever people in this area of the woods. But there was a _hardly_ in that sentence. Which meant that it was still possible.

"Who's there?" Natasha called again. Goosebumps rippled up her arms, making her skin tingle. "Come out with your hands raised, and we won't have any reason to hurt you."


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHORS'S NOTE:**

 **Thanks so much to those who've followed and Favorited this story.**

 **-Indigene Syke**

 **Disclaimer: haha :P**

* * *

Merlin frowned behind his tree. There were only two of them. He and his magic could easily take them. But he preferred to forgo the use of his powers to retain his relative anonymity. So, raising his hands, he carefully stepped out from behind the tree.

"What do you want?" he called cautiously.

Natasha and Clint moved forward slowly, bodies tense and weapons ready. "We want to ask you some questions," Natasha said, flicking her bright red hair over her shoulder. "Answer them, and you can go on your way."

Merlin nodded slowly. "All right," he said, slowly. "Ask away."

"What's your name?" Clint asked.

"I'm Michael Nyes," Merlin said, using one of his older pseudonyms. (If Merlin remembered correctly, the last time he had used the name had been in 1801 when he had worked as a small-time grocer.)

Natasha studied the man before her closely, watching for the telltale signs of lying. It annoyed her when she couldn't get a proper read on him. Merlin had perfected the art of deception long ago. He'd had to; if people had known who he was in Camelot, he would've been killed.

"So, Michael," Natasha said evenly, flashing white teeth in a smile. "What are you doing out here so late?"

Merlin, in turn, studied Natasha. She seemed familiar. She was one of the Avengers, he realized. The Black Widow, he thought. Which meant her companion must be the archer, Hawkeye.

Merlin chose his words carefully. "I'm a hitchhiker. I have a cottage on the outskirts of the nearest town. I have several cabins in America. I travel a lot. I'd just finished up my dinner at that lake back there and I was hiking back when you two buffoons started threatening me!"

"But why this lake?" Natasha stressed, ignoring the insult.

Merlin wrinkled his eyebrows. "Why _any_ lake? Because I wanted to! That's why!"

Clint hid his smirk at the man's attitude. "Have you seen anything strange around here?" he asked.

Merlin shook his head again. "Nothing," he told them. "Can I go now?" In the back of his head, Merlin wondered why two Avengers were out hiking in the backwoods of Britain. The rest of his brain was concentrating on not getting shot, and by extension, making sure his magic didn't go absolutely mad if he did.

Clint grinned sharply. "Don't lie to us, Nyes," he said threateningly.

"I am not lying!" Merlin said indignantly. "I went to the lake, I ate my dinner, and I left. Simple as that." Technically, Merlin _wasn't_ lying. He was just leaving a few things out.

Natasha sighed. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought. They really didn't have anything to hold this guy on. She signaled Clint to back off. "Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Nyes," she told Merlin. "If you see anything strange, contact the police, and it will get to us. Come on, Clint, let's go."

Clint nodded, but kept his arrow nocked. "Thanks," Clint said, flashing a wink at a confused Merlin. "See you later."

Merlin nodded briskly and moved quickly away. He glanced over his shoulder at the two dark figures. They were both staring after him. Merlin shuddered. An icy feeling swept down his spine. Something strange was coming. Something big. He could feel it.

* * *

Natasha and Clint stared after Michael Nyes. Something was off about him. Natasha's razor-sharp instincts told her so. "That guy was weird," Clint said. "I think he was lying. Or at least withholding the truth."

Natasha nodded thoughtfully. "We should get Stark to internet-stalk that guy. But first we should go check out the lake. Maybe we'll find something."

Clint led the way, grabbing a flashlight from his backpack. The trees were ghostly black shadows in the gathering dusk. The beam from his flashlight cut through the gloom. They slipped quietly through the woods, pale moonbeams glinting against the water of the lake.

Clint and Natasha stepped out of the forest onto a grassy beach. Directing the flashlight toward the ground, Clint examined the dirt. There were footprints and small patches of grass that had been compressed, like someone had sat there.

"Look at this," Natasha said, shining a flashlight of her own on the ground. She squatted beside two sets of footprints on the ground. One set was noticeably larger than the other. "There were two people here," she said.

"Who was the other person?" Clint asked, frowning at the prints.

"How should I know?" Natasha asked, standing. She followed the smaller footprints down to the water. Where they abruptly ended. "Clint, look at this. These footprints just end in the water. There's a set coming out, but they came before the set going in."

Clint shook his head. "I don't have an answer, Nat. But we should head back to the tower and report."

"Wait just a minute," Natasha said. She pulled out the dead sensor and tapped the screen. It flickered and crackled, flashing to life with a burst of static. Natasha grinned and checked the readings. "Wow. The energy readings at this place are off the charts. Something big happened here."

Clint's stomach twisted. Something bad was coming. "We need to get out of here," he whispered to Natasha. "We can come back later if we need to, but right now, we need to get out of here, and get back to the tower."

Natasha's head snapped up at the sound of her partner's distress. She nodded quickly. "Lead the way," she invited, stowing her gear.

Clint ran as fast as he could through the dark trees, with Natasha following. Clint didn't know what was going on at the lake, but his gut told him that it was dangerous.

* * *

Back at the lake, the water seemed to be fighting with itself. White and black light rippled through the water, creating swirling waves that smashed against each other, each trying to pound the other into submission. A swell of dark water took the form of an ethereal woman. The black water swirled, and crashed into the white waves, snuffing out the glow.

A vortex of turbulent water formed. The whirlpool glowed with smoke. The tiny pinpricks of light from the stars dissolved into blackness.

* * *

Hiking through the woods, already several miles away, Merlin felt a wash of black magic. He gasped, and fell to his knees, tears stinging his eyes. Merlin couldn't seem to find air. Choking and gasping, he fell forward into the leaves, unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Yes, I know Bruce leaves at the end of** ** _Age of_** **Ultron, but he needed to be in this. So ignoring that ending (it is fanfic, after all).**

 **Thanks to those that have reviewed, favorited or followed. I'm so excited to get this out there. Enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I really don't own this.**

* * *

Merlin woke up with leaves pressed against his face. The light of dawn was just beginning to filter through the darkness of the forest. Merlin blinked once and sat up, rubbing the cold soreness out of his muscles. He swallowed hard, trying to clear his dry throat. Merlin wondered how he had ended up unconscious on the forest floor. Something must have happened yesterday.

Slowly, he remembered; his day with Freya, meeting two Avengers and then a strange feeling of… magic. _Dark_ magic.

Merlin pushed himself to his feet, struggling a little from the weight and awkwardness of his backpack. He closed his eyes and reached for his magic. He let it flow out of him, a bit at a time, searching for the source of the ugly magic he had felt.

It was coming from the Lake of Avalon. Which might mean….

Merlin shook his head. He didn't want to think of it. But he had to check. He picked his way carefully back through the forest to the lake, keeping his magic on high alert.

It didn't take long for Merlin to reach the lake. But he couldn't see anything out of place. There was only a feeling of something utterly _wrong_ in the cool morning air. Merlin couldn't describe it. But it was _wrong, wrong, wrong._

Merlin growled. He wished that he could contact Freya. But the _once a year_ rule still applied. So that plan was a no-go.

He considered using his seeing crystal, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. The nightmarish visions that came with the crystal weren't worth it, unless things got particularly bad. He would save that to use as a last resort.

Merlin needed to get home and do some research. Maybe he could hack into a few government databases to see what Black Widow and Hawkeye had been doing in Europe. Merlin also decided that he was done with hiking through the woods. He was going to use magic to transport himself home, forget the consequences. There was a flash of gold and a blasting howl of wind, and he was gone.

* * *

"There is absolutely nothing on this guy," said Tony Stark, the Avenger known as Iron Man. "I haven't found anything on Michael Nyes. And I'm the best."

Tony dropped his tablet onto the couch beside him. The other Avengers were slumped in various positions around the communal living and dining areas.

Clint and Natasha were playing poker at the table, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, better known as Captain America and the Hulk, were each reading a book, Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, was playing a video game, and Wanda Maximoff and Vision were playing with their mind and magic tricks. Thor was currently in Asgard as far as everyone knew, and Colonel Rhodes, the War Machine, was off on a mission.

Natasha looked up at Tony's comment, bored. She dropped her winning hand of triple queens onto the table and Clint cursed, throwing his two pairs onto the tabletop in frustration. "You cheat, Nat," he accused. " _Nobody_ wins that much. Nobody."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Deal with it, crybaby," she said, standing and sitting instead next to Tony on the couch. "Right now we have bigger fish to fry." She picked up the tablet and tapped a command into the keypad.

A picture from the video feed of Clint and Nat's encounter with Michael Nyes appeared on the enormous Stark-Tech TV, interrupting Sam's video game. "That's our guy," Natasha said, ignoring Sam's grumbles of protest. Wanda and Vision, abandoning their tricks, squeezed onto the couch as well. (It was a big couch.) Clint settled for slouching across the backrest.

Natasha continued. "He said his name was Michael Nyes. He was at the lake Clint and I were sent to investigate."

"What were you investigating?" Bruce asked, cocking an eyebrow at the picture on the screen. The man didn't look like much. Bruce wondered why he was such a big deal.

Natasha tapped the screen. Several pages of scientific mumbo-jumbo replaced the picture of Michael Nyes. "This is why we were investigating."

Bruce paled, and Tony cursed. Steve and Sam just glanced at each other, confused. "What is it?" Steve asked.

Tony swallowed. "Those readings are very similar, very, _very_ similar to the energy readings from the tesseract."

Steve blew out a puff of air, reaching up to rub at his temples. Steve was beginning to wonder if he would ever be free of that cube. "I thought Thor had the tesseract."

Natasha nodded. "As far as we know, he does," she said. "But, as far as we know, these energy readings didn't come from the tesseract. They are very similar, but there are several distinct differences. And know that we know what we're looking for, there seems to be traces of this energy all over the place. In some places, the energy is far more powerful, in others, it's barely noticeable."

"Okay," Sam said, setting his video game controller on the floor. "But if it isn't the tesseract, then why are we so concerned? And what does this guy, Michael Nyes, have to do with anything?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the interruption, but decided to be mature. "The reason that we're so concerned is that these readings are probably close to a thousand times more powerful than any we got from the tesseract."

"Oh," Sam mumbled. "That's why."

Steve stood, and grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. He emptied the whole thing in one go. "So what does Nyes have to do with this again?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the bar.

"He was at the lake where we first found these readings," Natasha explained.

"Coincidence?" Wanda asked, staring hard at the screen.

"Don't believe in 'em," Clint said. "No. Nyes had something to do with this."

"That's what we need to figure out," Tony said, leaning forward and studying the equations on the screen. "FRIDAY," he called. "Analyze this data and get back to me as soon as possible. See if you can spot something that we can't."

"Yes, Boss," came the voice of FRIDAY, Tony's replacement for JARVIS. "I'll get right on it."

Tony took the tablet from Natasha. The picture of Michael Nyes reappeared on the screen. "I've cross-referenced the name with pictures," Tony said. "I've internet-stalked, but I have found nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada."

"Nothing?" Clint asked. "Not even one mention?"

"None," Tony said. "But then I decided to go for facial recognition. If there's a picture of this guy anywhere on the net, I'll have him. The program only needs a couple more minutes before—wait, never mind, it's done. But you'll need to take a look at them."

Tony swiped a finger across the tablet's screen. A series of pictures flashed onto the television screen. After a second, Clint pointed to a picture in the bottom left.

"There," he said. "That's him." The picture looked like it came from a driver's license. The name wasn't correct, but the face definitely was. There were those slightly oversized ears, and the silly bandana that Clint had noticed the day before.

"Marc Emmy," Tony said, fingers flying. "The guy has a house in Europe, just like he said, several more house in America, one in Ireland and more scattered around the world. His passport has dings all over the place. Russia, Brazil, Australia, Japan. This guy wasn't lying about having traveled, even if he was lying about his name."

More pictures appeared on the screen, some from news sites, some from Facebook and Twitter feeds. In many pictures, Marc Emmy had a backpack, or camping gear.

"So what do we do?" Wanda asked, playing with a strand of her hair.

"I say we give this guy a house call. I want to fix this problem before it becomes a problem." Tony said, standing. If Tony was honest, he was terrified of another possibly world-ending event. He wanted this over with before it began. "His passport says he hasn't left Britain. If we hurry, we might be able to reach him before his nomadic nature catches up with him."

"I'll get the Quin-Jet," Natasha said, stalking out of the room.

"Everyone suit up," Steve called, the authority evident in his voice. "Just in case. We don't know what we could be dealing with."

"Oh, can I say it?" Tony asked pleadingly, rubbing his hands together as he contemplated which suit he would wear. He was thinking of the Mark 53.

"Say what?"

"Avengers, assemble!"


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Chapter 4! And the chapters are slowly getting longer! YES! Again, thanks for reviewing/favoriting/following.**

* * *

Merlin sat at the table in his Britain cottage, surrounded by stacks of old tomes. The cottage was small and cozy. The walls and floor were constructed of honey-colored wood. Pictures, paintings, and tapestries covered nearly every inch of the smooth wall.

Behind one such tapestry, there was a hidden compartment, stuffed with weapons, modern and ancient alike. Another compartment was filled with camping and outdoor gear. A third, more carefully hidden space, was stocked with magical items. Cabinets lining the walls were held non-perishable food items.

Merlin was a bit of a prepper. So what? He knew that he might have to cut and run at any time, and he had learned the hard way (several times, in fact) that he needed to be prepared.

Merlin was currently searching for information regarding the dark magic he had felt at Avalon, and what could have been the cause of it. He had ruled out the transportation of evil pixies. He had also decided that Avalon wasn't infested with trolls. Thank goodness for that. (Merlin had had a bad experience with a troll when he had lived in Camelot, and several more in his travels around the world.)

The problem was that there were dozens of possibilities. Merlin could rule out several of the more minor incidences, but there were still many things it could be. Some of them very bad. The pillaging of Avalon was a major one. That could cause huge imbalances in magic.

Another was the veil being split. That would also be very bad. Tangling with the Dorocha had nearly cost Merlin his life.

The worst one, Merlin really didn't want to think about. It could have been that someone was twisting fate, magic, and life to rise from the dead. The warlock shoved the thought out of his head. It had to be something else.

Merlin rubbed his eyes. He needed something to eat. He made a cup of coco and a piece of toast. As he crunched the toast, Merlin flipped through the pages of an ancient book on magic. There were artfully drawn pictures of magical creatures and the effects of spells.

After five more minutes, Merlin slammed the book shut, sending up a small plume of dust. He'd always hated looking for information in Gaius's seemingly endless library. He didn't enjoy it any more fifteen hundred years later.

Merlin swallowed the last bit of his coco and stalked out into his small yard. The sun was unusually warm for the early spring day. Merlin leaned against the waist-high wooden fence and stared out at the street. He lived in a very quiet neighborhood, which he was fine with. It gave him more opportunity to use his magic without being caught.

The sky was clear and blue. The wind blew thorough Merlin's thick black hair. It was days like this, with nothing to do, that Merlin most missed his dead companions. He remembered the times when he and Arthur had been able to act more like brothers instead of servant and master. He missed that.

Merlin sighed and headed back inside. He plopped down into a large, squashy armchair, trying to relax. The sunlight washed through the window and hit the back of his chair, warming him. He was just beginning to doze off when something caused a shadow to block out the light for just a split second.

Merlin's eyes popped open, and he sat up straight, a chill zipping down his spine. Merlin leaned forward, muscles tense. There was a knock on the door, and Merlin nearly jumped out of his skin.

Merlin stumbled to the door, quickly pulling on his boots. He opened the door.

Standing in front of him was the last group of people he would have expected. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and the witch, Wanda Maximoff. Merlin shuddered at the feeling of power rolling off the girl. Something about it was unnatural, but Merlin brushed it off.

"Ah… hello there," he said, surprised.

They were each dressed in their battle gear, except Stark, who was wearing a t-shirt with a crisp, black, suit jacket. He was carrying a large red and gold briefcase. The Iron Man suit.

"Hey, there. Marc Emmy, right?" Stark asked, smiling. "Mind if we come in?" Without waiting for an answer, Tony slipped past Merlin into the small cottage. Steve Rogers rolled his eyes, but followed. "Good to meet you," he told Merlin. Wilson and the Maximoff girl both waved and grinned, following Steve into the room.

They gathered around the table, each taking a chair, leaving Merlin to stand, gaping. "What on earth do you think you're doing?" he cried indignantly. "You can't just barge in here and—"

"Ah, actually, that's where you're wrong," Stark said smugly, picking up a book and inspecting it carefully. "We can, because we're the Avengers and we're awesome."

Rogers rolled his eyes again and took over. "We know that you were holding out on Barton and Romanoff," he said. "We want to know why."

Merlin continued staring, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Finally, he found his voice. His usual _under pressure sass_ returned to him without fail.

"Barton and Romanoff?" Merlin scoffed. "Oh, you mean Hawkeye and Black Widow. The two super spies. Where are they? Skulking around in the back, making sure that I don't make a run for it out the back door?"

Wilson smirked and shook his head. "This guy's good," he chuckled.

Rogers raised an eyebrow, and said, it seemed, to no one in particular, "Your cover is blown. Come on inside."

Merlin heard the back door open. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton walked into the room, perching comfortably on the kitchen cupboards. Merlin huffed and folded his arms. "So I guess my house is a public library now?"

Stark nodded. "Yup," he said happily. "And speaking of, what the heck are all of these?" Stark picked up a six-inch thick tome and flipped through the pages. He inspected the strange symbols inside. "Can you even read this junk?"

"Yes, I can," Merlin snapped. "And it's none of your business anyway."

"Wrong again!" Stark smirked. He tapped his phone and flicked it. A holographic picture flashed in midair. It was the energy readings from the lake compared to the readings from the tesseract.

Merlin squinted at it. "So what?" he asked stiffly. "What does that have to do with me?"

Stark frowned. "Do you even know what those are?"

Merlin nodded. "Of course," Merlin snarked. "They're energy readings, taken from two different sources. I'm not an idiot."

"I resent that!" Wilson called. Everyone stared at him. "What?"

Stark rolled his eyes. "Clint and Natasha were sent to investigate these readings." Stark pointed at the first set. "We found these readings at the lake, the very same lake that we found you at. Coincidence? I think not."

Merlin shrugged. "I hike. I travel. I go where I want to go."

"That's not good enough, Mr. Emmy," Rogers said, a commanding tone in his voice. "We'll stop bothering you if you just answer our questions. Truthfully. Explain."

Merlin shook his head. He couldn't tell people about his magic. It could ruin everything! Arthur was supposed to return someday soon, according to Freya. Arthur would need Merlin to help him adjust to this world.

Merlin plopped down in the couch. He rubbed his temples. "Look," Merlin said. "I didn't have anything to do with… whatever you found at the lake. I'm trying to figure a few things out. I can't help you."

Romanoff pursed her lips. "He's lying," she whispered to her companions. Rogers nodded, stiffly.

Rogers stood. "Mr. Emmy, you're going to have to come with us."

"I will not," Merlin protested, jumping to his feet. "You have no right!"

"It's a matter of international security, son" Rogers said apologetically. "I'm sorry about this. I wouldn't do it unless people were in danger. We need to know what's going on."

Merlin was breathing hard, backing towards the door. Someone grabbed his arm and twisted it painfully behind his back. Merlin gasped at the sting in his elbow and shoulder. "Get off me!" he shouted, whipping his head back, and slamming it into someone's unsuspecting nose. There was a crunch, and Merlin was released.

Merlin whirled around, fists cocked and ready, eyes blazing. Hawkeye's nose was bleeding rather heavily. His eyes were hard. Stark grabbed the handle of his briefcase and jerked. The red and gold metal crawled up his arms quicker than Merlin thought possible. Stark's faceplate slammed down with an ominous click. There was a high pitched whine as Stark charged his repulsors. Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson readied their weapons. The witch girl raised her hands.

"Stand down, kid," Stark's metallic voice said. "We don't want to hurt you."

Merlin didn't move from his ready stance, eyes flicking between each Avenger. Rogers nodded toward the Maximoff girl. The witch contorted her hands, fingers glowing with red light.

A pulse of red magic encased Merlin's entire body, freezing him in place, constricting his muscles. Merlin considered not blowing his secret and going with the Avengers and telling them a very carefully concocted lie. But then a shiver ran down his spine. It was as if someone had dropped a gob of freezing oil down his shirt. It was horrible. And it was _bad, bad, bad._

Merlin's magic reacted unconsciously.

The magic spun out of control in one blast, shattering Maximoff's power, and shoving everyone several feet backwards.

There was a moment of eternal silence.

Then Captain Rogers shouted, "Take him down!"

* * *

At the Lake of Avalon, a patch of dirt under a tree shivered. The dirt pulsed and shook, strings of black magic tying bits together. The half-formed being coughed, then laughed, a low, ugly, guttural sound.

The being spoke, seeming to experiment with its voice. "Merlin… _Emrys_ …."


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER: pizzazz is fun to say. It has four z's.**

* * *

"Take him down!"

Captain America's shout sent Merlin into action. His secret was blown. He was going to use magic as much as he wanted in this fight. It was the only way that he had even a small chance of escaping.

It had been hundreds of years since Merlin had actually had to resort to verbal incantations to direct his magic.

Merlin shoved his hand toward Black Widow and Hawkeye, blasting them through a window. Merlin had shattered the Maximoff girl's power so quickly that she had collapsed into a daze, lying limp on the floor.

There was a high-pitched whine, and a flash of blueish-gold light. Merlin whirled, throwing up a magical shield, blocking Iron Man's replusor blast a millisecond before it slammed into his face. Merlin sent a blast of concussive magic from his palm, sending Iron Man and Falcon crashing into the table, books and broken wood flying everywhere.

Merlin heard a metallic _shing_ a split second before something slammed into his magical force field. Merlin's shield shattered and Captain America's red and blue one slammed into Merlin's ribs. Merlin crumpled, gasping, clutching his side. Cap picked his shield off the floor and positioned it on his back.

Cap crouched down and carefully pulled Merlin into a sitting position, cuffing his hands behind his back. "Sorry, son," he was saying. "You forced us into it."

Merlin was hardly listening. Pain pulsed through his stinging, aching ribs. In the back of his head, Merlin wondered why his magic hadn't stopped Captain America's shield. It definitely should have. Merlin foggily noticed Iron Man climbing to his feet, gears and joints whirring. Stark offered Wilson a hand.

"What the crap was that?" Stark's robotic voice asked. "He threw pretty much all of us, with just a wave of his hand?"

Captain Rogers shrugged, standing. "I have no idea," he said. "But we need to get Mr. Emmy into a special containment cell. He must have powers similar to Wanda's. Are Barton and Romanoff all right?"

"That sucked," Wilson said, rubbing his bruising back. He glanced at the panting, sweating Merlin. "You are one weird dude."

Stark peeked out the window. "Clint and Nat are both unconscious, but they aren't bleeding and they're both breathing. We'll pick'em up on the way out. I'll take Marc to the Quin-Jet and stick him in the temporary containment unit. Cap, you get Wanda, and Bird-Boy, try to get Robin Hood and Tasha up and about."

Sam nodded. "Will do." He headed out the door to look after Clint and Natasha. Steve carefully picked up the comatose Wanda, carrying her outside.

Tony frowned at Marc Emmy on the floor before him. Finally, he reached down, carefully grabbing Emmy's arm. "Come on, Emmy," Tony said sympathetically. "We'll patch you up back on the Quin-Jet."

The words sliced through the pain clogging Merlin's thoughts, bringing a surprising clarity. Merlin swayed on his feet, leaning his uninjured side on the cold metal of the Iron Man suit. He limped out the door with Iron Man, waiting for his chance.

Outside, the sunshine blasted into Merlin's aching head. Merlin groaned, and covertly glanced around. The Falcon was carrying a protesting, mostly-conscious Black Widow into a large, black… space jet. Clint Barton was still lying unconscious on the dead grass, and there was no sign of Captain America and the witch.

Merlin suddenly went limp against Tony, who started in surprise. "FRIDAY, check Emmy's vital signs."

"Heart rate and breathing are slightly elevated, Boss," the AI's voice said. "Temperature is 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Two ribs broken, two ribs cracked. He also seems to be radiating an unusual energy signature. I'll get back to you on that as soon as I can."

"Sounds good," Tony said, leaning down to scoop the unconscious man into his arms. He was just about to lift Emmy into his arms when the guy's eyes popped open, and… started glowing!

A blaze of gold flashing across the dark blue irises was all Tony saw before a blast of electricity shorted out the half the circuits in his suit. The weight of the half-dead suit pushed Tony to his hands and knees. "Critical system failures detected, Boss," FRIDAY's voice said.

"Yeah, yeah, I figured that out," Tony snapped.

Tony could see Marc Emmy climbing painfully to his feet, and flexing his arms like his was trying to break through his steel handcuffs. _No way,_ Tony thought. But lo and behold, there was a burst of light and Emmy's hands came free. Emmy turned and bolted down the street, one arm clasped tight to his side. He disappeared around a corner.

* * *

Merlin ran for all he was worth, great hitching breaths tearing at his throat. He dodged behind a house, streaking toward one of his hidey-holes. He stepped around a stray cat, sending the animal tearing up a tree.

Merlin's feet slapped on the pavement as he ran across a street, onto a dirt road. There was a cabin at the end of this road, and maybe a half a mile beyond the cabin, a hideout was hidden in a little hill, inaccessible to anyone without magic.

Ignoring the burning pain each step sent to his side, Merlin cast a spell to hide his footprints and continued on through the trees.

* * *

Tony stepped out of his damaged suit, leaving it to fold into a suit case. Haha. Suit case. Tony thought that one had been pretty funny. It wasn't as funny in the moment, Tony discovered.

Sprinting into the Quin-Jet, Tony nearly ran headlong into Rogers. "What's the matter?" Steve asked. "Where's Emmy?"

"He blasted my suit and escaped!" Tony complained. "We need to get him. He broke his cuffs and ran."

Steve frowned. "I'll go after him," he said. "Natasha is awake, and she's fine. We already checked for a concussion. Wanda is still down. Falcon is checking on Clint. Romanoff can help me track Emmy down."

Tony nodded. "I brought an extra suit, cuz' I'm just awesome like that," he said. "I'll get it on, and come find you guys. I'll bring the vibranium cuffs."

"Good," Steve said. Natasha joined him as he strode out of the Quin-Jet. Her hair was ruffled, and bits of dead grass were stuck to her back, but otherwise she was fine. She drew her pistol. "Let's go," she said. Steve and Natasha took off down the road.

"This is pretty hopeless without Stark and his tracking tech," Natasha said over the sound of their pounding feet. They slowed at an intersection. "I'm guessing this way," Steve said, heading toward the right. He could see a forest peeking through the gaps in the houses. "If we can't find him, Stark can do a flyover."

Natasha nodded, following close behind Steve. She pointed to a dirt road. "Down there," she said. The two Avengers stalked down the dirt road, leaving faint footprints in their wake. A cottage loomed through the trees, small but clean.

Steve motioned for Natasha to go around the back. Steve jumped onto the small porch and knocked firmly on the door. When he didn't get an answer, he kicked open the door.

Steve slowly walked inside, checking each room for Emmy. There wasn't a sign that anyone had been here in months. A thin layer of dust coated everything, even the wood floors. Natasha met Steve in the middle, having already searched the other rooms.

"No one here," Natasha said quietly, pistol cocked and at the ready. "But that doesn't mean much. This place is too obvious a hideout. Let's check the woods out back." Steve nodded, following Natasha out the door.

A little way into the woods, Natasha pointed to a broken branch. "There," she said. "He went this way."

"How do you know that it's him and not just an animal?" Steve asked, eyes steadily searching the woods.

Natasha pointed to a thread of red fabric on a branch just past. "He was wearing a red bandana," she explained.

Steve nodded. "Come on then," he said. "We can't be too far behind. I got him pretty good with my shield." Cap grimaced. "Maybe too good. I think I broke a couple of his ribs."

"Ouch."

They stalked farther into the dark trees, following a nearly invisible trail… which disappeared into nothing within half a mile. "Did we miss it?" Steve asked.

Natasha shook her head. "The trail just ends. Right at that rock." She pointed to a large, flat stone, which sat next to a small hillock.

"Secret tunnels?"

"Go ahead and check, but if he moved that rock, there would be some disturbances in the dirt and leaves. Footprints, most likely. He's been very good so far. This dirt is soft. He should have been leaving footprints all over the place."

Steve slid his fingers under the flat edge of the stone and heaved. Nothing except some worms and a few bugs. Steve let the rock fall. It hit the ground with a dry thump.

Natasha looked up when she heard the tell-tale sounds of Stark's Iron Man repulsors. Tony carefully dropped through the trees, landing with a heavy thud. "What are you two doing just standing here? Is there a _Cap-and-Tasha_ thing going on? Do you guys _like_ each other?"

"I'm gonna kill you, Stark," Natasha said, rolling her eyes. Steve just blushed. "Denial is the first sign of love!" sang Tony.

Natasha rolled her eyes again. "Can you scan this area for heat signatures?" she asked. "The trail we were following just disappeared."

"Sure," Tony nodded, chuckling. "FRIDAY, you're up."

"Of course, Boss," FRIDAY said. "I'm scanning now."

There was a moment of silence while the AI did its work. "There seems to be an unusual amount of radiation from that mound," the AI said. "In fact, the radiation signatures match those from the lake, and the signatures that surrounded Mr. Marc Emmy."

Silence for a beat. "These signatures came from Marc Emmy?" Tony asked. "They came _from_ him? As in, he made them happen."

"That's right, Boss."

"Dang. This guy is weird."

Steve shook his head. "So does that mean that Marc Emmy is hiding in that pile of dirt?"

Tony shrugged. FRIDAY answered for him. "There seems to be a rather large heat signature concealed in there, but there is a possibility that it's only a badger or a fox. I can't tell. Something seems to be blocking or confusing my sensors."

Tony glanced at Cap and Natasha. "Should I blow it up?"

"Sure," Natasha said. "But keep it low-key. We don't want to blow up Emmy."

"Don't worry," Tony scoffed. "I have special bombs. Directed explosions. They blow things whichever way I want them. The blast will be more of a danger to us than Emmy. So I would suggest taking cover behind a tree or something."

Tony busied himself setting up his explosive toys while Steve and Natasha took cover. When he was finished, Tony hid behind his own tree. He didn't want to mess up his suit's paint job. "Ready or not, here we come!" Tony called, setting off the bombs.

There was an explosion of dirt and stones, covering everything with a layer of mud. Tony peeked around his tree. There was a glowing sphere of opaque light embedded into the ground.

"That's weird," Tony said. "But I'm gonna guess that Emmy is in there. Stay covered," he told Steve and Natasha. "I'm going to try blasting his shield."

Tony charged his palm repulsor to its max. There was a high-pitched whine. The repulsor beam slammed into the glowing force field… and bounced off, hitting a tree and frying a hole in its trunk. A few leaves fizzled and sparked, withering from the heat of the blaze.

"Well," Tony said. "That failed epically. Anyone got any ideas?"

Steve thought for a second. He remembered how his shield had broken through Emmy's force field back at the cottage. He stood, moving carefully toward the glowing sphere. He lifted his shield above his head and slammed it against the force field.

There was a sound like a gong ringing, but no visible damage appeared on the shield. Steve tried again, slamming his shield down as hard as he could. This time, there was a sound like breaking crystal, and a glowing crack marred the force field's surface. Steve hit again, and again, and again. After seven more tries, the shield exploded in a flash of light.

When the light dissipated, the three Avengers saw Marc Emmy, standing (actually, closer to swaying) with his hands outstretched. He looked like he was about to faint, his face and lips pale. His eyes flashed gold, there was a loud boom, and Steve, Natasha and Tony were all blasted backward.

It took them several minutes to recover their breath. Tony stood first, having been mostly protected by his suit. Steve and Natasha clambered to their feet several seconds later.

They stared at the limp body on the ground, lying inside a muddy crater, little zings of light flashing across Marc Emmy's skin. He was unconscious, with a bleeding bullet hole through the meaty part of his shoulder, just underneath his left collarbone. There was also a thin trickle of blood coming from his nose.

"Good," Natasha breathed. "I got him. I thought that he escaped. Let's take him back to the jet and get him into a vibranium containment unit."

* * *

 **A bit of explanation here; yes, Merlin is very powerful. Alone, he could probably take on each of the Avengers. But as a team, the Avengers are pretty darn powerful. And maybe Merlin was having a bad day. I don't know. But it needed to happen. There is a reason to my rhyme.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **This chapter is a bit shorter. I was going to continue it, but it just got awkward. But that means that I'll get the next chapter out quicker! With no further delay, here's the chappie!**

* * *

Marc Emmy was unconscious on a steel examination table. Bruce Banner was conducting a medical examination, growling as he removed the bullet from Emmy's shoulder. Natasha had bandaged the wound well, but as the ride back to New York alone took an hour or two in the Quin-Jet, she had figured that it was best to leave the real medical stuff to Bruce.

"Did you have to shoot him, Natasha?" Bruce asked, stitching the small hole closed. Bruce gently wiped away the dried blood, and taped a bandage over the sutures. He checked the IV in the man's arm. They were administering a sedative while they were caring for Emmy's injuries, to make sure he didn't blast someone to bits.

Natasha frowned from where she was watching near the door. "Sorry," she grumbled. "I was just trying to make sure that he didn't cause world chaos or something."

Bruce frowned. "Fine. But why didn't you take care of him on the Quin-Jet? That was _extremely_ irresponsible. He could've gotten an infection."

Natasha blushed. "Sorry." She did feel bad about it, but she had been a little more concerned about Clint, who had a concussion, and, if she had to admit it, she might have forgotten about Emmy in the confusion.

Bruce grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully cut Emmy's shirt away from his torso, discarding the threads next to the sleeve he had cut off to get to Emmy's shoulder. Emmy was well muscled, but pale, and several white scars were visible.

The most prominent was a scar on his right shoulder. It was nearly the size of a small apple, and almost star-shaped. Another was a barely visible shadow of a burn, large and circular on the left side of his chest. One looked more like a bullet wound, but the hole was too jagged and messy. Possibly an arrow?

 _What happened to this guy?_ Bruce wondered. Bruce shook his head, focusing on the blue and purple area on the man's lower ribs. He pressed gently on the bruised flesh. They were definitely broken, though as far as Bruce could tell, it was only a minor break.

Bruce took an x-ray, examining the break. The broken edges were still together, on all four of the damaged ribs. That was good.

Bruce carefully dressed the rest of Emmy's injuries, which were only minor scrapes and scratches. Bruce turned to Natasha. "He should be fine," he said, a bit coldly. "Just make sure that he doesn't move around too much. And it's now your job to keep an eye on him."

Bruce handed Natasha an ice pack. "Wait for him to wake up, then put that on his ribs for twenty minutes at a time, every hour."

Natasha nodded contritely. She knew that she had messed up. Bruce helped Natasha situate Emmy on a wheeled gurney, then left her to take Emmy to a containment unit.

Natasha wheeled the gurney into an elevator. They were currently at Avenger's Tower. There were a few containment cells in the basement. The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival. Natasha pushed the gurney into a special, maximum-security unit.

The room was Spartan. There was a toilet, a sink and a metal cot which was bolted to the floor. Glow-Strips along the ceiling lit the place with an even, white light. The entire cube was constructed from vibranium. It was ridiculously expensive, and had never been used before, but this guy seemed to do a lot of things regular people didn't do.

Natasha left the gurney next to the door and sat on the cot. Babysitting duty. What fun.

* * *

Merlin woke up slowly, groggy and in pain. His shoulder stung, and his ribs were aching to high heaven. His throat didn't seem very happy either. He opened his eyes and blinked. The sky seemed to be made of metal.

Merlin blinked again, and shook his head. It felt like his brain had come loose and was sloshing around inside his skull. One more blink, and Merlin's foggy mind cleared slightly. He had been injured. That much was obvious. And there had been people attacking him. And magic….

Then Merlin remembered. The Avengers had wanted information about… magic, he guessed. After that, it was all pretty blurry.

A voice interrupted Merlin's thoughts. "Glad to see you're alive," it said.

Merlin glanced to his right. A woman sat on an uncomfortable-looking metal cot. Merlin groaned. He had been caught. "What do you want?" Merlin rasped, trying, and, surprisingly, succeeding, to look unperturbed.

Natasha stood. "First things first," she said. "Put this on your ribs. It'll help with the swelling." Natasha passed Merlin an ice pack. She pressed a button on the edge of the bed. It rose slowly so that Merlin was more in a sitting position.

Merlin winced as he pressed the ice pack against his sore ribs. He was shirtless, but he could feel a pair of soft sweats on his legs under the white sheet covering him. He glanced back up at Natasha. "Black Widow, correct? Natasha Romanoff?"

Natasha nodded.

There was silence for a long while as Natasha watched him. And Merlin realized something. His connection to magic was bleary. He tried to touch his power, but it was slippery. He figured that if he concentrated hard enough, he would be able to use it, but right now, his mind was too blurred.

"So what do you people want?" he asked, staring Natasha straight in her eyes. "You have me. Now tell me what you want."

Natasha sighed. "We just want you to tell us what created those readings we found at that lake. Was it you? And don't lie."

Merlin considered for a second. It wasn't like he could just blurt it all out. Or could he? He didn't have anyone to protect other than himself; he was the last creature of the old religion. Well, except for Aithusa, but she could take care of herself.

"Give me an hour to recover," Merlin said. "Gather your people, bring me a shirt and a snack, and I'll tell you."

Natasha stared him down. Merlin stared right back. Natasha nodded. "You have an hour. I'll send someone down with some food and clothes. Then we'll talk. If you lie, you won't like the consequences."

Natasha left the room without another word.

* * *

Exactly an hour and eight minutes later, The Avengers were gathered in a twenty-by-twenty titanium cuboid. Merlin, or as the Avengers knew him, Marc Emmy, was sitting in a steel chair.

His feet were cuffed to the legs of the chair. Covering his hands were a pair of special vibranium restraints. They had been an emergency craft. The cuffs were bubble-shaped, surrounding Merlin's hands. The insides were padded. Merlin couldn't move his fingers.

The Avengers sat in their own chairs (all the chairs were bolted to the floor), around a rectangular steel table (also bolted to the floor). Captain Rogers sat directly across from Merlin, who was tired and pale, but quite relaxed, considering the situation.

Tony was munching on a bag of Cheetos. Natasha was rolling her eyes and Clint was playing with Natasha's hair. Vision was hovering just to the left of Merlin, in case he needed to be restrained. Wanda was sitting closest to Steve. She seemed nervous. Falcon was half asleep in the chair next to Tony, and Tony seemed to be considering stuffing a Cheeto up his nose.

Steve leaned his elbows on the table. "So, Mr. Emmy," he began. "You said you would talk. So talk. Explain what you did, and why you radiate these energy signatures."

Merlin nodded. "I will," he said, tapping his metal-enclosed hands against the arms of the chair. His fingers felt tingly and numb. He tried to use magic to warm them, but the magic fizzled and sparked around the edges of the vibranium cuffs.

Merlin took a deep breath. He hadn't ever really come right out and told his secret to anyone. At least not since Arthur, and telling Arthur had been one of the hardest things that Merlin had ever done, and Arthur had been dying when he'd done it.

"If I'm going to tell you everything," Merlin said, "you're going to have to give me the benefit of the doubt. And don't ask any questions until I'm finished. Got it?"

Everyone glanced at Steve. There was no official _boss_ among the Avengers, but Steve had such an air of authority that most everyone naturally deferred to him. Steve nodded, looking stern, but curious. Tony poked a Cheeto into Sam's cheek. "Wake up," he said. "We're about to get an explanation here."

Sam sat up straight, rubbed his eyes, then slapped Tony's hand away. "I'm awake!" he snapped. "Now shut up and listen."

Everyone looked expectantly to Merlin.

Merlin took one more breath, held it for a second, and started talking. "This is going to sound mad, but… I was born in the middle ages. 599 A.D., to be exact."

The Avengers stared uncomprehendingly.

"My name isn't Marc Emmy, or even Michael Nyes. My name is Merlin. I was known by the druids as Emrys. I lived in Camelot, during the time of Arthur Pendragon."


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Chapter 7! This one was kinda tricky to write. Enjoy! Review please, and thank you.**

* * *

There was a long, long moment of silence. Tony's fingers went limp, dropping several Cheetos onto the floor. Sam chuckled nervously. "Is this guy nuts?" Sam asked. "He's crazy right? Cause, otherwise, this means that I'm crazy. And I'm an Avenger. I deal with crazy all the time."

"Still talking here!" Merlin griped, annoyed at the interruption. He just wanted to get it all out at once. "The energy readings you people picked up came from me, but they also came, more originally, from the earth. The power of the earth flows through me. It's magic."

Tony scoffed. "Magic doesn't exist, _Merlin_."

Merlin snorted. "Then what do you call what I did back in Britain? What about Miss Maximoff? What are her powers classified as?"

"Manipulation of energy. Simple."

"Magic _is_ energy, you idiot."

Clint smirked. "Ooohh, Tony just got called an idiot. And he totally deserved it. Then again, he usually does."

Sam smiled. "So you say you lived in the time of King Arthur. How come you aren't an old man? In pretty much every story ever, Merlin is a really old guy with a white beard."

"Yes, well," Merlin grinned, turning slightly red. "The stories all seem to focus on that. Probably Gauis's fault. And I was an old man. But only once or twice."

Clint frowned. "That makes pretty much zero sense."

"No, it does," Wanda disagreed, speaking for the first time. "I can alter the fabric of space. I manipulate gravity and the mind, what people think they see. Those are my specialty. He could alter his appearance to others in the same way.* Him…" Wanda nervously pointed to Merlin. "I can sense his power. He is very strong."

Vision nodded as well. "I can sense his power as well," he said, studying Merlin carefully. "It connects him to everything… or connects everything to him. He draws his power from the earth itself, just as he said."

"Exactly," Merlin said, glad that someone understood, even if just a small bit. "My power comes from the core of the earth. I have the ability to harness it. Use it. Direct it to my will."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Right. Anyone who could harness that much power would spontaneously combust."

"Except me," Merlin shrugged. "My very being is created from that power. I was destined to use it."

"Okay!" Tony yelled. "This is getting way too weird for me! I need time to think. And I need a drink. Anybody want to come with?"

Sam and Clint raised a hand. The three of them climbed to their feet and exited the room. Wanda, looking relieved, followed after. Bruce looked thoughtful, but followed as well. He needed some time to think things through. Decide if it were possible.

The only ones that remained were Steve, Vision and Natasha. Steve looked thoughtful. Natasha looked curious. Vision looked like Vision; impassive, but not disbelieving.

Merlin looked disappointedly at the remaining Avengers. "Do any even you even vaguely believe me?" he asked.

Vision raised tilted his head. "I don't disbelieve you," he said thoughtfully. "I see that you have great power, but I'm not sure if I believe that you were born in the Middle Ages."

Natasha and Steve nodded. Steve was a bit more willing to believe the story, though. After all, he was from the 1940's.

Merlin sighed. "That's better than nothing, I suppose. Is there anything that I could do to prove it to you three? You seem to be the most open-minded. Stark will be hardest to convince."

Steve and Natasha chuckled and Vision smiled. Then the atmosphere in the room became somber. "I don't think you're lying to us," Steve said. "I want to believe you. But this story is just so unthinkable. Does anybody have any ideas?"

"Can you show us some of your magic?" Natasha asked curiously.

Merlin nodded. "Yes." He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, they were burning gold. A hovering ball of white-hot, golden light appeared in the center of the room, flickering like fire. The three Avengers stared.

But Merlin frowned. Creating the light had been more difficult than usual, and it was draining his power like he'd never felt before. After a few seconds, the light blinked and died. A bead of sweat dripped down Merlin's temple. Merlin's hands felt hot. None of the others in the room noticed.

"What else are you willing to show us?" Steve asked, trying to blink away the effects of the glowing light.

Merlin took another breath and let it out. A bead of multi-colored light appeared and morphed, shifting into a tiny green and yellow parakeet. The parakeet twittered and fluttered its wings. Natasha ran a finger down the creature's back. Definitely real.

A ball of water coalesced, hovering above Merlin's head. He was panting a bit now. Why was such simple magic so difficult? A sphere of fire joined the ball of water. Glowing images appeared in the air, dancing through the room. Dragons, fairies, griffins.

Steve was staring open-mouthed. Natasha was smiling faintly. Vision seemed to be analyzing the phenomena, but also seemed to be enjoying it. "This is definitely helping your case," Natasha said.

Merlin face grew slightly paler. A tiny bolt of lightning zipped back and forth between Merlin's hand restraints. And then, a sudden feeling, like black oil being dumped down his throat.

There was a sound like a clap of thunder, and the lights went out, the fire disappeared, and the ball of water splashed down onto the floor, showering everyone with droplets. The parakeet screeched loudly, and flapped its wings, flying into a corner of the room and landing on the floor.

Vision was on Merlin in an instant, holding his arms to the chairs. But there was no need. Merlin was panting hard, pale, looking like he was about to throw up. His eyes were their normal tone of dark blue.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Steve asked warily, half out of his chair. Merlin swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the oily, dark feeling.

"I… I don't know," Merlin gasped. "My magic seems to be meeting some sort of resistance. And I felt something…." Merlin glanced at Steve, staring at him hard. "Something bad is coming," he said. "You need to get ready for a battle."

* * *

Merlin was back in his cell. His hands were free once again. There were red marks on his wrists were the cuffs had rubbed against him. That feeling of blackness… where had that come from? And why were those strange feelings coming so much more frequently?

Merlin sat in the center of the vibranium cuboid that was his current home. He closed his eyes, and pressed his magic outward. It was blocked almost immediately. He could feel it fizzling against the walls.

The walls.

The walls! Merlin's eyes popped back open. He stared around the room. Vibranium. Pure and shining. Merlin thought back to when Captain America's shield had broken through his force field. Captain America's shield was made from vibranium.

Vibranium blocked magic. Or at least it dulled it. This was a new development. He had sort of been depending on being able to escape whenever he wanted. But if he needed to get away, he could always just wait until he was being moved from one place to another.

Merlin had only ever encountered magic-blocking metal once or twice in his life. It hadn't been as pure as this vibranium cube. His powers had overcome the resistance quickly. But his prison was completely constructed from it. He could feel his magic pressing against the walls.

Merlin closed his eyes again, sending his magic to look for a way out. He found it rather easily. There were tiny vents in the corners of the vibranium cube. Merlin sent his magic squeezing through the holes.

Given enough time, Merlin could search a large area with his magic. He was looking for anything that would give him a hint about where those strange feelings had come from. Merlin breathed deep. This could take a while.

* * *

Steve glanced around at his companions. Tony was drinking. Bruce was reading. Sam and Wanda were teaching Vision how to play Monopoly. Natasha and Clint were playing with Merlin's magic parakeet. They had named the bird Kiki.

"Hey guys," Steve called. Everyone looked up. Steve sighed and got right to his point. "Tony, you, Sam and Clint were all sort of jerks back in the interrogation room. Wanda and Bruce, you could have been slightly more polite."

There was a long silence. "Okaaaay," Tony said, sipping his drink. "How were we being jerks?"

Steve frowned. "You completely discounted Marc's... _Merlin's_ story before he even got a chance to tell it."

"He said he was born in the Middle Ages," Tony said exasperatedly. "How can he expect anyone to believe that?"

Sam raised a hand, looking embarrassed. "Steve does have a point. He was born in the 1940's," he said. "Vision is an android. Wanda has freaky powers. No offense." Sam glanced at Wanda, who shrugged, smiling. "You guys have fought aliens and gods. We deal with crazy every day."

Sam looked to Steve. "Yes, I see that I was a jerk. I'll tell Merlin—man, it's weird saying that—that I'm sorry. But, no offense to him either, I'm still not sure if I believe him."

Clint nodded respectfully toward Sam. "Well said."

Wanda swallowed hard. "He scares me," she said quietly, cheeks burning red. "The way he crushed my power… it was terrifying."

Vision laid a hand on Wanda's shoulder.

Bruce shrugged apologetically. "I didn't mean to be rude," Bruce said. "And I think that there are reasons to believe his story. The myths never agree on what exactly happened to Merlin. And I've found pictures of paintings from the right era. And this is strange, but I even found this."

Bruce showed everyone a picture on a laptop. It was a painting titled _King Arthur and his Court._ First and foremost, the king, blond haired and tall, was wearing armor and a crown. A few knights wearing armor and long red cloaks were standing near him. And standing just behind the king, was a tall, thin man, with black hair, prominent ears and cheekbones, and bright blue eyes that seemed to be alive.

It was Marc Emmy. Or Merlin, if what he had told them was true.

"Cool," Sam grinned. "So that guy down there might really be…."

Steve nodded. "Merlin. And he gave me a warning. We need the rest of his story."

* * *

 ***I know Merlin actually turns old, but Wanda and the Avengers don't know that, so whateves.**

 **Also, not that much vibranium is available to the Avengers, but, creativity of the author and all that jazz.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Man, these** ** _in between the action_** **chapters are hard to write. This one bugged me. I'm still not sure that I really like it.**

 **Disclaimer: Pizza has two Z's. Add two more and it turns into pizzazz.**

* * *

Merlin gasped, and his eyes popped open. He had stretched his magic far. He had seen crazy things; green eyes and blue eyes, burning with anger and hatred. He had seen twisting vines and flashes of light. He had seen explosions and water. He had felt heat and cold and wind. And blackness… so much black, black anger.

Merlin panted heavily. Something hot and wet trickled down his chin. Merlin wiped his face. His fingers came away bloody. His nose was bleeding. Merlin sniffed. That had happened a few times when he had really stressed himself and his magic. The vibranium walls had drained his reserves of energy.

Merlin stood up stiffly and washed himself at the sink. He sat on the bed and rubbed his aching back and ribs. He had searched for hours for even just the beginning of those visions.

Merlin pressed his fingers against his temples. The visions he had seen were so confusing. He… he even sort wished that he had his seeing crystal. At least he would have seen more. He could deal with the nightmares if he knew he could stop the catastrophe that was going to happen.

Merlin swallowed and carefully lay back on the bed. His ribs were healing quickly. It appeared his magic (which oftentimes seemed to have a mind of its own) was speeding up the healing process. Usually, the Old Religion left him to his devices when it came to injuries. Something big must be coming if the Old Religion was speeding his healing.

Merlin stared at the ceiling. He hoped that the Avengers (or at least Captain Rogers, Black Widow and Vision) would believe him. He had been alone for centuries. He had stayed hidden, kept away from close friendships, because eventually, his friends always left him behind.

Merlin was done hiding. He figured that if… _when_ Arthur came again (Freya had told him that the time was approaching) Merlin would come to an end. Go back to Avalon with Freya and Arthur. But that time was not yet. Unless the person who was opening the door was coming inside to kill him.

Merlin didn't move as Bruce Banner stepped into the room. He was carrying a small plastic box, which he set on the floor. Merlin sat up. Bruce smiled. "I've come to check on your injuries," Bruce said. "Do you mind taking off your shirt?"

Merlin shook his head and carefully removed his shirt, tugging the sleeve over the bandage on his shoulder. Merlin dropped the shirt on the bed as Bruce changed the bandage on Merlin's bullet hole, and examined his ribs, where purple bruises were fading to yellow and light green.

"You're healing extraordinarily quickly," Bruce noted.

Merlin nodded. He didn't much care what he told the Avengers now. His secret was out. If the Avengers chose not to believe him, that was their problem. They couldn't hold him forever.

"My magic does that sometimes," Merlin told Bruce.

Bruce seemed intrigued. "Your… magic acts by itself?"

Merlin nodded an affirmative. "Sometimes, when the Old Religion senses something bad is coming, I'll get strange visions and such. The Old Religion is preparing me for what's coming."

Bruce frowned. "Steve told us that you told him that something bad was coming. Can you elaborate?"

Merlin sighed and rubbed his aching ribs. "Not much. I saw a few things… random, disjointed images, but nothing concrete."

Bruce handed Merlin a water bottle and a pain pill. "Swallow that," he instructed. When Merlin had finished, Bruce asked if he could sit down. Merlin nodded, and Bruce sat on the bed next to Merlin. Bruce was so curious.

"Your magic… has it always been so… volatile?" Bruce asked. "Steve also told me about the things you did, and how you nearly blacked out."

Merlin considered. Did he consider his magic volatile? At times, definitely. Especially when he was young. "Sort of," Merlin explained. "It was much harder when I was a child, but I gained more control over it as I got older."

"When you were a child? How long have you had your magic? Doesn't magic have to be learned, chosen?"

Merlin chuckled. "Magic chose me. I've always had my powers. My mother told me that I used them the day I was born. Just bursts of light and heat mostly, when I was young. Concussive blasts. Things got more complicated as I aged."

Bruce frowned. Having to rein in so much power at such a young age must've been terrifying. _A thousand times more powerful than the tesseract._ "Did you ever wonder if you were a monster?" Bruce asked. The question had started out as a thought, and popped out of Bruce's mouth before he could stop it.

Merlin seemed surprised by the question. Finally, he nodded. "Many times."

Nothing more was said. Bruce stood. He wasn't sure if Marc—Merlin—knew if he was the Hulk. Having access to the power of the earth… that was probably very stressful. _Understatement_ , Bruce thought as he left the room, nodding to Merlin on the way out. Maybe even Hulk-level stressful.

Bruce still hadn't pieced together all the facts, but he liked going over things one bit at a time, to make sure that he understood all of it. There would definitely be more visits to Merlin (goodness that sounded _so_ strange) in the future.

* * *

Merlin watched as Bruce Banner walked out the door. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the man. Merlin didn't know much about Bruce Banner. He knew that Banner studied gamma radiation, but that was pretty much the extent of Merlin's knowledge.

But why was Bruce Banner with the Avengers? Merlin thought for a minute. The only Avenger whose identity was unknown to the public was the Hulk. Why…?

 _Oh,_ thought Merlin. _That explains things._

Bruce Banner was the Hulk.*

That would explain the questions, and the willingness to believe Merlin's story. Bruce Banner had undoubtedly seen some strange things in his time. He was the Hulk after all. Most likely, anyway.

Merlin pondered for a minute longer. He decided that he liked Dr. Banner. Merlin also decided that he was bored. He wished that someone else would come in.

His wish was granted immediately. Merlin looked up in surprise.

Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers. They stepped inside and closed the door. "Hey, look, I'm sorry that I shot you," Natasha mumbled, looking at the floor. "I was just… stressed about Clint. He's my best friend."

Merlin nodded. "Okay. Was there anything else that you wanted?"

Natasha sat against the wall and Steve stood with his hands folded. They were both dressed in street clothes. "I want you to tell Steve and me your story. Start from the beginning, and just… tell us what you can."

"All right," Merlin said. He was fine with telling his story. He hadn't ever really told anyone the full scale of it; he probably never would. There was just too much to tell.

So Merlin highlighted the story, explaining how it had been his destiny to bring magic to Albion. He explained how he had ultimately succeeded, even at the heartbreaking expense of Arthur's death. Camelot, and Albion with it, had flourished in the era of magical peace. Things had begun to fall apart after Gwen died.

Since there was no heir, the throne was fought over and Camelot nearly fell into a civil war. Merlin had attempted to resolve it, but to no avail. So he had disappeared into the shadows. He had watched sadly as Albion fell into ruin. The enmity between those with magic, and those without had rekindled.

And Merlin had lived on.

Natasha and Steve stayed quiet the whole time. Once Merlin was finished, Steve asked a question. "Were you Arthur's advisor, like in all the stories? Was he a kid when you met him?"

Merlin chuckled. "A child, yes. A kid, no. He was older than I. I was eighteen. He was approaching his twenty-first birthday. And I wasn't his advisor. I was his servant."

Natasha frowned. She hadn't ever heard a story where Merlin was a servant. Neither had Steve. But that would explain his position in the painting Bruce had found. No important advisor would be in the background like that.

She had brought the painting to show to Merlin. It was leaning right outside the door. Steve brought it in and showed it to Merlin. Natasha watched Merlin carefully, studying his reaction.

The hardest reaction to hide was surprise, Natasha knew. She had used the surprise tactic many times. And Merlin wasn't trying to hide anything.

Natasha saw it. There was a flash of surprise, then recognition. Merlin gently touched the paint. A spark seemed to ripple down the edge of the painting. "I remember this one. It's actually a good likeness of Arthur and the knights. One of the few."

Merlin seemed to be in his own little world. And Natasha was convinced. Mostly. There really was no way to be absolutely sure if Merlin really was who he said he was. But Natasha was excellent at seeing through lies, and the moment Merlin had seen the painting, she had known that he was telling the truth.

At least, what he thought was the truth. Perhaps the man really was crazy and actually thought that he was _the_ Merlin.

But Natasha knew crazy. And this man was not crazy. So that meant he was telling the truth. Natasha believed him. She wasn't sure about Steve, but….

"Hey… Merlin."

Merlin looked up, startled. "Yeah?"

"I want you to know… that I… I believe you."

Steve watched Natasha curiously. He hadn't expected her to accept the story so quickly. It was pretty out there. He wondered if her experiences in the Red Room had anything to do with it.

Steve was generally good at getting a read on people as well. This guy had been a warrior. Perhaps it hadn't been a known fact back in Camelot, but Steve could tell that this guy had been in more than his fair share of fights. And not just because of the faint shadows of his scars, but the look in his eye. The way he talked. That was an aura that couldn't be faked.

"I believe you too," Steve said.

Merlin seemed dumbfounded. "You do?"

Steve and Natasha nodded.

"I don't believe that you mean any of us harm," Steve told Merlin. "Natasha and I will try to get you out of here. I want your help finding this thing that was coming. You said it was bad. I want as much help as possible to sort it out before it gets worse."

Natasha nodded. "I'd like to hear more of your story, later," she said. "It sounds interesting. And by the way, we might not be able to get you out of here for a while. I'm pretty sure that Tony is going to be a stubborn idiot when it comes to you."

Merlin nodded and watched silently as Steve and Natasha filed out. They said that they had believed him. Was it a ruse? Why would they lie? There wasn't a good reason that Merlin could think of, but his brain was a bit shot at that moment. He hadn't expected the two Avengers to actually believe him.

Merlin looked back down at the painting that Steve and Natasha had left with him. He touched the paint again, feeling its cool texture. Steve reminded Merlin of Arthur. Brave, honest, true, a leader. Merlin liked Natasha and Steve. He felt that he could trust them if something went wrong.

Merlin decided that he had made the right choice. He was going to trust the Avengers to help him sort out the problems that were coming. If only all of the Avengers believed him. He didn't want to do anything to create a rift between them.

* * *

 ***I think after 1500 years of learning different things, Merlin would be able to figure that out. He's a smart dude.**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: *grumbling* I suppose I should officially say this. I don't own anything but the story idea. The characters aren't mine. There. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!**

* * *

Steve watched Clint and Sam playing with Kiki the parakeet. The scene was abnormally normal for the Avengers. The other Avengers were gathered around the table, waiting expectantly for Steve to start talking.

Why was Steve always the one who had to do this kind of stuff? Probably because he was a natural leader, or some other dumb reason like that. He just wanted a break from the responsibility. But alas, it was not to be.

So Steve dove right into it.

"Natasha and I believe that Merlin, the guy we kidnapped and brutalized, is who he says he is."

There was a moment of silence, then chaos. Steve ignored the noise, focusing on each of the Avengers separately. He wanted to gauge their reactions. Natasha was assisting him in this endeavor.

Bruce was nodding, looking calm and collected. No problems there. Sam was looking doubtful, but sort of excited as well. Steve was betting that he and Natasha would be able to convince him. Wanda hadn't ever been very doubtful. She would be easy to convince. Vision was on the same wavelength as Wanda.

Clint seemed to be wavering between resistant, hesitant and concerned, possibly for everyone's sanity. Tony looked like he was about to pop. "You believe this?" he stuttered. "It's lunacy! Complete and utter lunacy!"

Steve nodded. He had guessed that Tony would be hard to convince. "I believe him," Steve said, tiredly running a hand over his face. "So does Natasha. I'd also wager a guess that Wanda, Bruce and Vision believe him as well."

Tony shook his head. "I don't even…. Never mind. Guys, I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but for real, how can that be possible? I'm a man of science! Not magic. Sorry Wanda, no offense."

Wanda rolled her eyes, flicking a spark of red energy onto the tabletop. "Some day, I really will take offense. And then you'll be sorry."

Tony looked wary. "Yes, well, good thing that that's someday, and not right now, because we have other matters to deal with." Tony turned to Bruce. "Bruce, do you believe this?"

Bruce sort-of half nodded. "I think I do," he said. "Tony, I've seen a lot of weird stuff in my time. My whole life is one, big, lovely roller coaster of weird. Merlin seems to be telling the truth.

Tony gestured wildly with his hands, trying to get his point across. His frustration with his friends' blindness was building.

"Exactly! He _seems_ to be telling the truth! What if he's lulling us into a false sense of security, just to get close to us? What if he let himself get caught? I don't know about you guys, but I am so done with crazy, terrifying adventures to save the universe and what not! Heck, I got PTSD just from one of them! Not to even mention this last one with evil robot aliens. Just saying, though."

Tony sat back, his piece said. They weren't using their brains! Tony didn't want to pick a fight with anyone, but he also didn't want to see the other Avengers, his only friends, get hurt. The visions that Wanda had forced into his mind when she had been slightly evil still haunted him. He woke up with nightmares frequently.

Somehow, this was understood among the Avengers, so further conflict was avoided. Sam nodded. "Yeah, we do need to be careful," he said, scratching his chin. "But I'm pretty sure that we could take him if we needed to, Tony. After all, it's just one guy against us."

"And we're awesome," Tony agreed, looking slightly more relaxed. At least one of the Avengers was using his brain.

Steve nodded. "We'll keep him under observation, when we bring him up."

"Wait… you plan on letting him out of his box?" Tony asked. "Back to my point! We've known this guy for like, two days!"

"Yes, but he's never given us any reason for us to treat him like we did!" Steve said. "We barged right into his house, broke his stuff, chased him down, shot him, and then locked him in a metal cube!"

Tony nodded halfheartedly. "Okay, I see your point. But I still don't believe that he's from the Middle Ages, or that we should just let him wander around!"

"And we won't, Tony," Natasha interrupted. She wanted this argument over with. She was hungry and she wanted a snack. "Just because we believe Merlin's story doesn't mean that we're stupid enough to trust him one hundred percent right off. That's why Steve said that we'll keep him under observation."

Tony sighed and looked around at the others. None of them would look Tony in the eye, except Vision, because he was Vision. Vision was just like that. But with the others… that meant they all agreed with Steve and Natasha.

"I'm going to be outvoted on this, aren't I?" Tony asked, rubbing his eyes, and wandering to the snack cabinet. He needed comfort food for what was about to come. There was a moment of silence, interrupted by Tony sulkily crunching on an Oreo.

"Yup. You totally just got outvoted. Sorry Tony."

* * *

Merlin was singing as loud as he could. He had been locked in a magic-sucking vibranium box for close to forty hours. He was absolutely, one hundred percent, no-going-back-bored-out-of-his-skull. He could've used magic to entertain himself, but with the constant strain of the vibranium, it was too tiring. So he was singing.

Merlin was quite particular to '80s music.

Things had been quiet since Captain America and Black Widow had visited his cell, so, needless to say, Merlin was quite surprised when a high, sweet voice joined him during the chorus to _Sweet Dreams (Are made of This)._ (Merlin didn't care that it was sung by a girl. It seemed to fit his life. Whatever.)

It was Natasha Romanoff. Somehow, it was strange to hear such a nice voice come from an alien/robot killing super assassin. Natasha seemed amused at the surprised look on Merlin's face. They finished the chorus. Merlin smiled at Natasha. "Nice voice," he said. "We'll have to do it again sometime."

Natasha laughed. "Yeah. Later. Right now, though, we're going upstairs to get you situated in your new room. Lucky you. Everyone seems to like you. Except Clint, but that's probably only because you knocked him out cold. He'll get over it. Oh, and Tony, but he's always just difficult. He should come around too, given enough time."

"I see." Merlin stood, stretching his stiff ribs. They were mostly healed by now. The magic had patched him up extremely quickly. Which gave Merlin chills. It either meant that the Old Religion now cared about how he felt (which he doubted) or something bad was coming, and soon. Merlin rather thought that the latter was the much more likely option.

Natasha motioned to the open door of the cell. "Come on," she said impatiently. "You look pale. A little fresh air will do you good."

"You aren't going to slap the magic bubble-cuffs on me?" Merlin asked, wondering what exactly the Avengers had decided to do with him. It didn't sound bad, but Merlin had learned caution over the years. He didn't enjoy being untrusting but it came with the territory of having lived through thousands of different insane and dangerous situations.

Natasha shook her head. She didn't blame the guy for being wary. Being wary was a huge part of her life. "No, we're not going to _slap the magic bubble-cuffs_ on you," she said. "We're going to apologize for how we treated you, give you everything that you need, and send you to get a good night's sleep on an actual bed, not that slab of steel torture that somehow manages to pass for a cot."

When Merlin didn't move, Natasha spoke again. "Look, unless you like sleeping on that thing," Natasha said, gesturing to the steel cot bolted to the floor, "come with me."

Merlin shrugged. If they weren't going to make him wear vibranium, then he could escape any time he wanted to. It sounded like a sweet deal.

Merlin followed Natasha through a large room full of metal cube cells. "You were a special prisoner," Natasha tossed over her shoulder as they wound their way through the cubes. "You got the vibranium box. Most people just get steel or titanium."

"Wonderful," Merlin said snarkily. "I felt so lucky while I was in there."

Natasha chuckled. Merlin had attitude. His sarcastic comments kind of reminded her of Tony. And Clint.

Natasha and Merlin entered the elevator. It was pleasantly cool inside. The doors closed. Natasha pushed a button, and with a ding, the elevator began to move upward. Merlin felt the floor rumbling beneath his feet.

Natasha and Merlin rode in silence until the doors opened. The room that was revealed was furnished lavishly. In a corner of the room was a large birdcage. Inside, a solitary green parakeet twittered happily. Merlin grinned.

The Avengers were all lounging around a central coffee table. Merlin smiled broadly, waved, and plopped himself comfortably onto a chair, sighing with pleasure as he sank into it. Modern day furniture was a thousand-million times better than medieval furniture had ever been.

Merlin glanced expectantly around at the Avengers. "Miss Romanoff tells me that you all were going to apologize. Who's going to go first?"

Tony glared at Natasha, folding his arms and scowling. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Tasha," he said. "You were supposed to act all intimidating and scary—you know, like you always act—and scare the crap out of this guy. And then we would all pretend to be scary, and then we would say stuff like _we're sorry we beat you up and barged into your house._ We went over this. Come on, FRIDAY, back me up. Did we go over this?"

An accented female voice came from nowhere and everywhere. "Yes, Boss. You did go over this, but I doubt that anyone was listening to you rant. Everyone tends to tune you out when you go on like that."

Merlin smiled. This was going to be entertaining, he could tell.

* * *

 **Tony is slightly more mature than he lets on. He had legitimate concerns about Merlin. He wasn't just being a stubborn little doofus.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Again, thanks so much for all of the reviews!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I like to eat frozen peaches. While I watch movies and shows that I don't own.**

* * *

Merlin grinned and glanced around at the Avengers. "I want an apology each from Barton and Stark, and I want public apologies from Rogers and Romanoff."

Tony frowned, folding his arms. "Why not Bruce, Vision, Wanda or Sam?"

"Dr. Banner never visited my home, Miss Maximoff never harmed me, and neither did Vision or Mr. Wilson."

Bruce smirked as Tony scoffed. "I vote that Tony goes first. And he has to speak a minimum of at least one hundred words. And it has to be sincere. All in favor raise your right hand. If Tony doesn't do it, he has to eat nothing but spinach, soy smoothies and non-chewable vitamins for the next month."

Hands went up all around.

Tony glanced down, horrified, at the package of Goldfish in his lap, and the bottle of Sparkling Cider next to his feet. (Sparkling Cider wasn't alcohol, but Pepper had made him a bet that he couldn't go without any alcoholic beverages for a week. Sparkling Cider was his way of consoling himself.)

Tony knew himself well enough that he would die if all he had to eat for a month was _spinach._ Tony enjoyed his junk food too much.

So he decided to swallow his pride, big-time, and apologize.

Tony carefully set his Goldfish on the table next to him. He took a breath and stood. Tony noticed Sam was directing the camera on his phone toward Tony, smirking. Tony gritted his teeth. He'd get Chicken-Man for that later.

Tony turned to Merlin, looking like he'd spent the last twenty minutes sucking on a lemon. "I am very sorry for barging into your house like I owned the place, and I am very sorry for insulting your books and breaking your table. I am very sorry that I chased you with the intent to capture. I am very sorry that I almost blew you up. And I am very sorry that I locked you in a metal cube with nothing to do for two days."

"Thirty more words, Boss," FRIDAY's voice said, sounding amused.

"I know, FRIDAY, just shut up, all right?" Tony shifted his feet. "I am sorry that I don't believe you. I am sorry that I laughed at you. I am sorry that I do not like you right now. Maybe we can work it out later."

Tony sat down without another word, glaring icy daggers at Sam, who was struggling to hold in his chuckles.

Sam lowered his phone. "He even went over his limit!" Sam crowed delightedly. Sam smiled at Merlin. "He must like you." Sam looked at his phone and laughed. "I'm going to watch this video every time that I need to cheer myself up."

"I hate you," Tony growled, jabbing a finger at Sam, then Steve, then Merlin. "You for how annoying you are." Tony pointed at Sam. "You for your goody-two-shoes-ness." He pointed at Steve. "And you because you just bug me." Tony finally pointed to Merlin, who smiled broadly.

"I enjoy your company too, Stark," Merlin chuckled.

The apologies from Clint, Steve and Natasha were much less entertaining, and much more to the point. Merlin's smile faded after they finished. He knew what he needed to ask for. He really, _really,_ didn't like it, but it had to be done.

Bruce picked up on the change of mood. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Are your injuries doing all right?"

Merlin shook his head. "I'm fine. I just… need to ask for a favor."

"Aww, great!" Tony grumbled, still pouting. "Now he wants a favor." (Tony wasn't really mad at Merlin, just annoyed and embarrassed that he'd had to apologize like he had. He much would've rather done it in a less public way.)

Merlin shifted in his seat. His ribs were still stiff and his shoulder stung dully if he moved it the wrong way. "It isn't so much a favor, actually," he mumbled. "More like… a self-inflicted punishment for the good of all humanity."

* * *

Clint handed Merlin the black velvet pouch. It had taken him and Nat nearly an hour to find it, stashed in Merlin's hidden vault in his Britain home. Natasha and Clint had volunteered to retrieve it. (Clint had actually been volun-told by Natasha, but that wasn't the point.)

It was nearing 11 PM on the third day of Merlin's stay with the Avengers. They had taken him to a lushly furnished guest room, complete with a walk-in closet, a huge bathroom and a fully-stocked kitchenette. Merlin had showered and changed, then found a snack. He had taken a nap and been woken by FRIDAY informing him that Clint and Natasha had returned.

Merlin wished that there was another way, but he couldn't think of one, other than meditating for hours while he searched the globe with his magic. This way was much quicker.

Merlin picked at the strings on the pouch. He and the Avengers were gathered in the Avengers Lounge once again. Steve glanced doubtfully at the pouch. "You said that that crystal in there is from a magic cave, and it will show you visions?"

Merlin nodded tightly, trying to hide his nervousness. He suspected that only Steve, Natasha and Clint could see through his casual façade. "Yes. I should be able to see whatever keeps making me feel like I want to puke up dirty oil."

Wanda shuddered. She had never experienced what Merlin was describing, but her magic did sometimes make her sensitive to pollution and things like that. She imagined the feelings would be similar.

Merlin steeled his nerves, and slid the pouch open. He hesitated for half a second before slipping the fist-sized crystal out of the pouch and into his palm. The crystal was cold against his fingers. The surface was blank for the moment. Merlin took one last breath and let his magic touch the pulsing, tingling magic emanating from the stone.

The crystal's magic was strange and unnerving. It sent shivers down Merlin's spine. He felt like someone had injected him with ice water.

Merlin stared into the smoky depths of his seeing crystal. At first he only saw glowing darkness. Then images began to form out of the depths of the black light.

Merlin saw a lake glowing with multicolored fire. He saw the Avengers fighting an unseen enemy. He saw flashes of army camo and the beams of flashlights. He saw flashes of color. He saw eyes, blue and green and brown, some filled with fear, others with anger.

Merlin's breathing quickened. His hands shook. The crystal seemed to be leeching to the warmth from his fingers.

Then he started to hear things, which had never happened before. He heard wind rushing and he heard the sharp pop of gunfire. He heard the whine of strained engines. He heard the crunch of gravel. He heard explosions. And worst of all, he heard screaming. The screams of crowds. And the screams of individuals.

The screams of ghosts.

The colors of the vision brightened, becoming more real. Sounds became louder, leaving his ears ringing. The world flashed white for a split second. Then Merlin's world disappeared, replaced by…

 _…_ _a room, dark, except for a single flickering candle. The wind was blowing outside. Merlin could hear it. He could feel its chill. Dirt crunched under his bare feet, prickling his soles. Merlin could see no one._

 _A voice spoke out of the darkness, dripping with fake sweetness. The sweetness did nothing to hide the venom oozing from the words. "I brought you back, and with your assistance, we managed to bring her back as well. But now the way is blocked by some form of magic, very powerful. I can do nothing more." The voice had a cold accent. It sent chills down Merlin's spine. The voice resounded strangely in Merlin's ears, making it impossible to tell if a man or a woman was speaking._

 _"Surely you can try harder." This voice was tinged with annoyance… and despair._

 _The first voice responded. "No, I'm afraid that I cannot. You will simply have to wait."_

 _A third voice joined the conversation. This voice sounded aggravated. "End your incessant bickering. We have no chance of succeeding if we are fighting each other."_

 _A figure moved into Merlin's frame of vision. Merlin tried to move, but he found that his body was frozen. The figure didn't seem to notice Merlin._

 _Merlin tried to see who the figure was, but the face, the whole body, in fact, was shrouded in a dark, blurry mist. Merlin could only see that the figure was tall. The figure spoke. It was the first voice. Now it seemed contrite._

 _"I apologize, my dear," the voice said. "Please forgive me."_

 _A second indistinguishable figure moved into the light, this one slightly shorter than the other. "I accept your apology," the second voice said. "Now, we need to discuss our plan of action."_

 _The voice said something else, but a pounding ringing in Merlin's ears blocked out the word. Blackness threatened to overtake his vision. Merlin fought against the comforting pull of the empty blackness. He needed to see more!_

 _Merlin pushed the blackness away. His senses cleared._

 _"—these Avengers you speak of." It was the third voice again. "We need to find a way to strip him of his most valuable tool. Without it, he is useless."_

 _The second voice spoke. "I tire of waiting."_

 _The first voice spoke again. "Yet wait you must. We have not had time to prepare our plan fully yet. Another month, perhaps two. Do not forget that you are not the only one with a vendetta. Patience is our ally in this game."_

 _The darkness clouding Merlin's vision was growing with each beat of his heart. Merlin could hear it pounding in his ears. He could taste the oily blackness on his tongue. Nothing had ever tasted so disgusting. Merlin could feel the pure, utter hatred radiating from the trio. He could smell it in the air._

 _Merlin tried to swallow to clear his throat. He tried to blink to clear his eyes. He tried to breathe to clear his head. Nothing worked. Merlin's throat closed, suffocating him, denying him life-giving air._

 _It was as if the unadulterated loathing was poisoning him._

 _Merlin tried to see just a bit more, hear just the next sentence, stay just a minute more. But he could do nothing. Merlin's lungs burned._

 _He was frozen in place, and he was dying._

 _His heartbeats slowed. Darkness extinguished his vision. He breathed out._

 _And then he was gone._


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **This Chapter is from the Avengers' point of view. This one was tricky, because there were so many darn characters! I might have to have some of them go on a mission or something. We have a little cameo appearance in this chappie dedicated to Pilyarquitect. enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: :P**

* * *

The Avengers watched as Clint handed Merlin the little black velvet sack. They were once again gathered in the Avengers Lounge. The lounge seemed to be where most of their important meetings happened.

It was late, nearing midnight. Tony watched curiously as Merlin picked at the strings on the pouch. Steve frowned at the innocuous little pouch. "You said that that crystal in there is from a magic cave, and it will show you visions?" Steve asked, doubt tinging his voice.

Merlin nodded, somewhat stiffly, it seemed to Tony. Tony wondered why. "Yes," Merlin said, his voice flat. "I should be able to see whatever keeps making me feel like I want to puke up dirty oil."

 _Dirty oil,_ Tony thought. _That's why._ Tony knew what dirty oil tasted like. It didn't taste good.

Merlin slid a large, fist-sized chunk of hazy white crystal into his palm. The sight of it made Tony shiver. Something in the air felt strange. Maybe the compound's air conditioner unit was busted. Tony would check on that later, but right now, his attention was on Merlin, who was staring in the depths of the white rock in his hand.

There was silence for a long minute. Tony stared at Merlin hard. The man did absolutely nothing but stare into his shiny rock. Tony couldn't even tell if Merlin was blinking or not.

Tony clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, bored and annoyed by the silence. Natasha glared at Tony as if he had just kicked Clint. "Okay, okay," Tony muttered huffily. "I'll stop."

Tony pouted for 7.6 seconds, then he was bored again. But he didn't want Natasha to kill him. Several minutes passed. Tony glared in Natasha's general direction. He couldn't decide what to do. Circumstances decided for him.

There was a gasp and a strangled moan. Tony glanced up.

Merlin, who had been completely silent staring at his rock, was hyperventilating, chest heaving, mouth gaping. Merlin eyes were still glued to the white stone clutched in his long, pale fingers. Merlin's entire body seized, and he collapsed to the floor, rigid as a board, still staring at the crystal.

There was an instant uproar. Steve and Bruce instantly burst into action. Natasha whipped out a phone, and stabbed a number into it. She ran out of the room, phone to her ear. Clint followed. Vision was trying to comfort Wanda, who was staring at Merlin looking like she wanted to puke. Tony just sat in horrified shock.

Sam rushed to where Steve and Bruce were next to Merlin on their knees, laying Merlin on his side in case he threw up. Bruce was checking Merlin's pulse. "Get that thing out of his hands!" Bruce barked.

Bruce's shout sent Tony into action. Tony leaped to his feet and reached for the white crystal, ready to wrest it out of Merlin's shaking fingers. An instant before Tony touched the stone, a sharp cry stopped him. "Wait!"

It was Wanda. She appeared to have recovered. She knelt next to Merlin as well, who was convulsing in a seizure. "The stone has magical powers," Wanda said, reaching for the crystal. "I'll do it. It might be dangerous to others."

Wanda's fingers brushed the stone. Time seemed to stand still for a split second. Then Wanda shrieked, an ear-splitting noise that shattered three windows, and collapsed onto the floor, eyes closed, semi-conscious, nonsense words spilling from her lips.

"Don't touch the rock!" Bruce cried. "If Wanda can't touch it, none of us should."

"Figured that out!" Tony snapped, checking Wanda's pulse. It was rapid, but strong. "So what do we do?"

Merlin's struggles were losing strength. His eyes closed, though he still clasped his crystal like a lifeline. Soon he was completely still, except for his uneven breathing. Hitching, choked gasps escaped his lips.

The door reopened, slamming into the wall with a bang. Natasha and Clint ran in, followed by a woman, perhaps in her late twenties, with wavy, honey-colored hair in a white coat. The woman was carrying a large bag that Tony suspected was full of medical equipment.

The woman hurried forward. "What happened to him?" she asked. The woman had a crisp British accent. She knelt next to Merlin. Without waiting for an answer, the woman pressed two fingers to Merlin's throat, checking his pulse. "Someone check over her." The woman jerked her head towards the now silent Wanda. "And give me a report."

Tony rubbed his face, wiping away a thin sheen of sweat. "FRIDAY, vitals check on Wanda, please."

"Heartrate and breathing slightly elevated, Boss," FRIDAY said. "Slight fever. Temperature is 99.9 degrees. Other body functions normal. In fact, Miss Maximoff appears to be recovering now."

True to FRIDAY's word, Wanda's eyes popped open, looking dazed and disoriented. "My fingers are tingling," she murmured, flexing said fingers. Clint helped Wanda sit up and Natasha helped her sip from a water bottle.

Wanda waved them away. "I'm all right," she said shakily. "How is Merlin?"

The doctor didn't blink an eye at the news that her patient's name was Merlin. "He is currently unconscious." She examined the crystal. "What is this?" she asked.

"A seeing crystal, apparently," Steve said, sitting back on his heels. "I think it gave Merlin a seizure."

"Why haven't you taken it away from him?" the doctor asked.

"That's what knocked Wanda unconscious," Bruce said, sighing heavily. "We need to get that crystal out of his hands."

"Gloves?" the doctor questioned, shaking her hair out of her face.

Bruce shook his head. "Probably shouldn't risk it, but if Merlin gets any worse, we'll try it. He seems stable right now."

The doctor nodded. "Get a pillow," she ordered Tony. She glanced around at the Avengers. "Nice to see you all by the way. My name is Simmons. Jemma Simmons. I'm a huge fan of your work, Dr. Banner."

"Good to meet you too, Miss Simmons," Bruce said, lifting Merlin's head so Simmons could slide the pillow under.

Merlin's face contorted at the movement. He moaned. His eyelids twitched. Underneath, his irises were shining a brilliant gold. But the gold was polluted with growing flecks of black.

Merlin gasped and choked, eyes closing again, concealing his glowing irises.

"Get that thing out of his hands!" Simmons cried. Before anyone could think about touching Merlin, he arched his back and a blast of energy exploded from him, flinging everyone backward.

Simmons, Bruce, Sam and Steve hit the floor. The lights on the ceiling exploded in a flash of sparks. Darkness engulfed the group. They felt another wave of power, and there was the sound of glass breaking and thunder booming. There was a flash of multi-colored light, but not from Merlin. The light had come from outside.

Tony carefully stepped over shards of broken glass as the emergency lights flicked on. The lights cast an eerie blue-white glow on the entire scene.

Tony peered out into the dark night. It was well past midnight by now, and the sky was black. No stars. But Tony could just make out a smoldering circle of grass several hundred feet away. He could see someone striding across the lawn.

"FRIDAY," Tony said nervously. "Who's that?"

"It appears that Thor has arrived, Boss."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Excellent. Maybe he knows something about magic rocks."

Thor, red cloak and blond hair waving, hammer in hand, stepped through the empty window frame, glass snapping under his feet. "Good evening, friends," he said, with a large smile. "I have come to assist you. Heimdall said something about a problem with magic."

"Yeah," Tony said. "Over there." Tony waved a hand vaguely toward Merlin, who was drawing in long, wheezing breaths. "That rock he's holding. It sent him into shock or something."

"Excellent!" Thor crowed. "This problem is very easy to fix." Thor strode to where Merlin was lying and reached for the crystal in his fist.

"Wait!" everyone shouted, alarm coloring their voices.

But Thor didn't wait. He ripped the crystal from Merlin's grasp. Sparks snapped around Thor's fingers. He grimaced, and wrapped the crystal in the edge of his cape. Merlin's breathing immediately eased and his tense muscles relaxed. Merlin was still pale as a ghost, but his pulse had evened out, as Simmons discovered when she examined him.

Simmons sighed and sat back on her heels. "He seems to be all right now," she said. "But I'd like to examine him properly, then stay and observe him, preferably until he wakes, and if not until then, at least overnight. We were only supposed to stay here for a few hours, but I'm sure Coulson will be fine with it."

The Avengers had learned of Agent Phil Coulson's survival nearly a year ago. A few of the Avengers had even encountered Coulson's team of agents once or twice.

Bruce was checking Wanda for signs of shock, Vision hovering (not literally) over them. "She's fine," Bruce pronounced. "Just a bit of a fever. But with a good night's rest and lots of fluids, she'll be fine by tomorrow."

Wanda nodded, dark hair swaying. She glanced at Merlin's limp form. "When I touched the crystal… I saw a glimpse of… something. Something… dark.. I thought it was a person, but now, I'm not so sure." Awe and worry tinged her voice. "He is even stronger than I gave him credit for if he can see anything worthwhile in that stone."

Steve nodded tiredly. "Let's hope he learned what he wanted. I don't want to see that rock ever again."

Wanda rubbed her hands together, tiny sparks of red energy lighting up her skin. "I'm going to bed," she muttered. "I'm exhausted. If Merlin is awake by morning, tell me. I want to speak with him."

Wanda left the room. Clint picked bits of glass out of Natasha's red hair. Natasha spotted the little velvet pouch on the floor and picked it up. She handed it to Thor. "Put that stupid rock in there."

Thor smiled at Natasha as he carefully slipped the crystal into the pouch. "Greetings, Lady Natasha. I have not seen you since we destroyed Ultron. What has kept you so busy?"

Natasha shrugged. "I don't know," she smirked. "I shouldn't have let it happen. It's been too long since we just hung out."

Thor tossed the velvet pouch to Tony, who caught it in surprise. Tony grimaced and tugged the pouch's strings to close it. He stuffed the stone into his pocket. He'd have to put it somewhere safe until Mr. Magic Merlin could deal with it.

Thor embraced Natasha, dragging in Clint as well. Clint scowled good-naturedly at Thor, who seemed oblivious. "Dr. Banner," Thor called, inclining his head toward the man. "Captain Rogers, Tony. And who are you?" Thor glanced curiously at Simmons. "And who is this man, who had such power as to be able to properly use a Seeing Stone?"

"I'm Simmons, Jemma Simmons," Simmons said, blushing profusely. (Unfortunately, for her, Thor already had a girlfriend.)

"That guy says that he's Merlin," Tony said, plopping onto a couch. He swigged from a bottle of Sparkling Cider he had retrieved from the fridge. "He was using the magic shiny rock to look for evil people."

Thor frowned. "Merlin? I have never heard of this mortal. He must have extraordinary power. Otherwise, he would not have been able to survive such prolonged contact with the stone. Some Asgardians would be able to use this stone, but many of those few would never even consider touching such a thing."

"You can meet Merlin tomorrow," Steve said, gathering the unconscious man into his arms. "Right now, we're going to take him into the infirmary. Miss Simmons, Dr. Banner, would you like to come?"

Simmons nodded, grabbing her bag and hurrying after Steve as he disappeared with Merlin. "I need to talk with Coulson," she said. Bruce followed them close behind. Thor waved cheerily to Vision and Sam. "Hello, my friends."

"Good evening, Thor."

"'Sup?"

Thor glanced around at the mess. "Would any of you care to explain what happened?" he asked. "How did you come by this… Merlin?"

Tony sighed. "Well, we basically tried to kidnap him," Tony said, explaining everything that had happened over the past few days. (Natasha, Clint and Sam seemed to find great joy in interrupting Tony, and correcting him when he messed up a detail. Vision seemed to find it amusing as well.)

When he was finished, Tony leaned back and closed his eyes. "I wish that this was my house so that I could tell you all to shut up and go to your rooms."

There was a beat of silence. "Wait…" Clint mused pursing his lips, trying to suppress a smirk. "I thought that you did that anyway. I thought that you thought that was your job."

Everyone burst out laughing, and even Tony rolled his eyes and smiled. It took nearly five minutes for everyone to calm down.

Thor wiped his eyes and sighed. "Yes, it is excellent to see you all again," he said. "Now, to the most important thing." Thor gazed seriously at Tony. "Are there any Pop-Tarts, in this fortress?"

Tony rolled his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Chapter 12! Yippee! We have a few more AOS characters in here. Don't worry if you don't watch the show. Simmons is a scientist, and Fitz is sort of a robotics expert. Or those are the parts of their job descriptions that I have decided to focus on. Fitz and Simmons are partners. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Merlin woke from a tangled nightmare. He was in a soft bed. Merlin blinked hard, trying to clear the fog from his brain. He didn't recognize this room. It was all white; white walls, white lights, and white bedsheets. Merlin guessed that it was a hospital unit. He wondered if he was still in the Avengers Compound.

Merlin remembered clearly the vision he'd had while using the stone. The three figures in the dark room. After that, though, things were fuzzy. He seemed to remember shouting and darkness, but that was about it.

Merlin wondered why he'd had such an intense vision. Never before had he become so entangled in the nightmare world of the seeing crystal. Never before had he _heard_ things from the seeing crystal. If Merlin had to hazard a guess as to why, he'd guess that whatever was coming was very, very bad. The Old Religion was still attempting to prepare him.

Needless to say, Merlin was not happy or excited.

Merlin raised a hand to rub at his eyes. Something tugged on his arm. Glancing down, Merlin discovered that he had an IV slotted into his arm. Merlin frowned. What on earth had happened last night? Was it last night? How long had he been out?

Merlin smacked his lips. His mouth was dry. Like all good, stereotypical hospital rooms, a pitcher of water and a cup sat on a table a few feet out of Merlin's reach. That was easily fixed though. Merlin flicked a finger. The water pitcher floated into the air and filled the empty glass. The glass floated through the air.

Merlin caught the cup as the door opened. He sipped it as two people stepped into the room, a young woman with dark blond hair, and a brown-haired young man. The girl smiled widely when she saw Merlin awake and sitting up.

"Hello!" The girl said in a crisply accented voice. "Excellent to meet you! My name is Simmons, and this is my partner, Fitz."

The young man nodded, grinning easily. "Hey," he said, bustling forward. He also had an accent; a bit closer to Scottish, if Merlin was forced to guess. Fitz was carrying a black case under one arm. He set the case on a table, and opened it, seemingly in his own world. The girl, Simmons, hurried to Merlin's bedside.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, slipping on a pair of plastic gloves. She took Merlin's wrist and counted along with his pulse. She peered into his eyes, checking for a concussion.

"I'm fine," Merlin said patiently waiting for Simmons to complete her check-up. He knew how physicians were with their patients. He had lived with Gaius for years. "Are you two with the Avengers?"

Fitz chuckled. Simmons giggled. "Oh, no," she said. "We're agents of SHIELD. Well, we're more like scientists, and SHIELD doesn't really exist anymore… But we work with what used to be SHIELD. The good part of SHIELD. Yes. I'll stop talking now."

Merlin smiled. "But the Avengers trust you?"

Simmons nodded proudly.

Merlin nodded as well. "I'd like to get up now if that's all right."

Simmons smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. "Of course," she said. "Just let me remove this IV." Simmons hummed a tuneless melody under her breath as she slipped the IV out of Merlin's arm and taped a cotton pad over the prick.

As Simmons was disposing of the used medical instruments, she spoke. "Before you get up, I want you to drink a few glasses of water." Simmons grabbed the water pitcher and turned about, searching for the glass. She blinked in confusion when she saw it in Merlin's hand. "How did you…? Fitz, did you…?"

Fitz glanced around, confused. Obviously, he had been tuning out the conversation while he messed with some sort of tablet-like device. "What?"

Simmons pointed to the glass in Merlin's hand. "Did you give him the glass?"

Fitz shook his head. "No. Why?"

Simmons turned to Merlin. "Did you get out of bed and grab it?"

"No," Merlin said.

"Then who did?"

"I did," said Merlin.

"But you just said—"

Merlin smiled. "I didn't get out of bed. I used magic."

Fitz cocked his head, now fully interested in the conversation. "Magic? How does that work?"

Merlin shrugged. "There's not an exact way to describe it. Simply put, it's the manipulation of the earth's energy."

Simmons nodded excitedly. "Mr. Stark explained a bit to us and Coulson. I'm really curious; are you really _the_ Merlin? The one from all the old stories?"

"Yes. I am."

Simmons flushed with excitement. "There's so much I'd like to ask you," she gushed. "But I'd guess that you're hungry. Would you be willing to answer a few of my questions after you've had a meal?"

"Of course," Merlin said.

Fitz grinned. "Better watch out," he said to Merlin as Simmons excitedly washed her hands. "Once she starts asking questions, it might be a bit hard to get her to stop."

* * *

Merlin sat at the table, digging hungrily into a plate of pizza. Merlin thought that if pizza had existed in Camelot in his time, wars would have been avoided.

Merlin lapped up a string of dangling cheese. The Avengers, minus Clint, who was off doing Hawkeye stuff*, according to Natasha, and Wanda and Vision, who were apparently playing with their respective powers in the training room. The agents of the supposedly non-existent SHIELD were off doing agent-y things with some guy named Coulson.

"So what exactly did you see in that stone?" Steve asked, getting right to the point. He had finished his own pizza several minutes ago. (Steve was honestly surprised at how much Merlin could eat. Merlin wasn't a very big guy, but he had almost eaten a whole pizza by himself.) "It must've been pretty bad."

"You totally wigged out," Tony called from where he was pouring himself another glass of Sparkling Cider. (The week without alcohol bet with Pepper still wasn't over yet.)

Merlin frowned thoughtfully as he took another bite of his pizza. "I saw a lot of things," he said. "People fighting, flashes of scenery and faces, things like I normally see. Then I started hearing things, which has never happened before."

Tony frowned. "Never? Did anyone tamper with your rock before you used it? Did you cast a spell or something?"

Merlin shook his head. "I have wards around the stone. If anyone who didn't have my permission had touched it, I would know. And I didn't cast any magic on the stone. It was magic trying to prepare for whatever is coming."

To be honest, Tony was sort of doubtful about the whole _the world might end because I had a funny feeling, and then I fainted after I looked into a shiny rock._ It wasn't that he didn't believe Merlin, it was more of the fact that Tony had a slight case of denial. He really, really, really, really, _really_ didn't want to have to fight off a bunch of evil monsters or evil people, whichever might be the case.

Merlin continued. "When I started hearing things, it was more like I was actually there than it was like a vision. I saw three people. And before you ask, I couldn't tell who they were, or even if they were male or female."

"That sucks," Tony said, annoyed, sitting down and cradling his Sparkling Cider. "Why is your life making my life so confusing?"

Merlin shrugged apologetically. "I don't know. But anyway, these three people, they were plotting something. They talked about a vendetta, and a plan. Something that wasn't ready yet. One of them said that it would take another month or two for it to be fully prepared. Other than that, everything was just as vague as it always is when I use the crystal."

The room seemed to deflate. That was what had nearly killed the living legend in front of them?

Thor frowned. Steve had explained to him who Merlin was, and something about the stories tickled the back of his subconscious. The stories were familiar for some reason.

Thor put it aside for a moment. "I have never met a mortal who can properly use a seeing crystal for such a large amount of time without losing his sanity. How can you?"

Merlin snorted. "I'm not exactly mortal, am I?" he said. "I guess—"

"I don't get that either," Tony said, munching of a handful of potato chips. "Does that mean that you can't die at all, or that you can't die naturally?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. He wondered how many times he was going to get interrupted. "I can die," Merlin said. "From sickness or injury. I can't die from old age. How any of that works, I don't know, now back to what I was saying." Merlin glared a bit at Tony who plastered on an innocent look, like _why are you looking at me?_

"I know several sorcerers back in my day that had the ability to use seeing crystals and scrying bowls," Merlin said. "As far I know, I'm the only… ah, mortal, left who can use them. It might have something to do with my _destiny_ or something silly like that. The druids always said that Emrys would unite Albion, and the Once and Future King would come back to aid in time of need. How that applies to right now? I have absolutely no idea."

Thor scratched his beard. Albion. The Once and Future King. Thor stared at Merlin. "Are you Emrys?" Thor wanted to make certain.

Merlin chewed his lip and glanced at the floor. "I am," he finally said. "It was a destiny that I never wanted."

Thor grinned. He _had_ heard of this mortal, just not by the name he was currently using. Merlin shifted nervously at Thor's wide smile. Thor reached across the table and grasped Merlin's hand, shaking it firmly.

"I have heard of you," Thor boomed. "Many years ago, on Asgard, there were rumors of a powerful Midgardian sorcerer who would unite a kingdom called Albion. I was never sure if they were true, but it seems that they were! There were stories told of you and your destiny."

Merlin rubbed his aching wrist. "I see. I didn't know. What did these stories say?"

"They spoke of your heroics in saving the kingdom, and your prowess in magic. I don't recall ever hearing details. The rumors always seemed very vague. But the stories depicted you as a hidden hero, a white knight!"

Merlin reddened. "Um, yes, well…."

Much to Merlin's relief and Tony's disappointment (Tony could sense when good teasing material was being dispensed), a knock came from the door. Jemma Simmons poked her head inside. Her cheeks were flushed.

Merlin stood gratefully, knowing what she was here for. "I'd love to explain, Mr. Thor, but I have a prior arrangement with Miss Simmons here. Perhaps we can exchange stories later?"

Tony shoved himself out of his chair, guzzling the last of his cider in one go. "Are you going to play with your magic rock?"

"Oh, no," Natasha said, pointing a finger at Tony's nose. "No more playing with magic rocks for you! Not after what happened with Ultron!"

"But that was like, two months ago," Tony pouted. "And what about Bruce?"

Bruce held up his hands. "It was Tony's idea!" he said.

Steve, Natasha and Thor smirked.

"Natasha's got a point," Steve said.

"Fine!" Tony cried, throwing his hands into the air. "I promise not to touch the rock! But I want to see what they're going to do. This is going to be interesting, I can tell. Brucie, you coming?"

Bruce stood and followed Simmons, Tony and Merlin out the door.

* * *

The laboratory was bustling, even with only five people inside. Simmons was excited enough for all of them. Simmons had Merlin moving the crystal from one scanner to another. When she had heard how it had shown Merlin a vision in a different way then it usually did, she pointed out that the energy readings that she and Fitz had taken from the stone were steady. Not a single anomaly. Which meant that something else had caused the strange vision. (Tony had muttered something about how his life was an anomaly, but everyone had ignored him.)

Tony hadn't been allowed within two feet of the crystal. Bruce had given the crystal a quick examination, proclaimed that the thing creeped him out, and had sat at a worktable, reading a book, but paying attention all the same.

Fitz, on the other hand, was trying to act cool in the presence of Tony Stark. _The_ Tony Stark. Fitz had shown Tony his drones, and the two had been talking robotics ever since. Jemma was quizzing Merlin about his past; his friends, his family and life in general.

"I can't believe that you were a servant," Simmons said, scribbling something in a notebook. "I have _never_ had that version of the story."

"Stories get twisted," Merlin told Simmons. "Magic may help smooth out the edges of the rougher things. Nowadays, most people wouldn't even give a second thought to the possibility of magic being real."

"Does… can magic do that?" Simmons asked. "Just... change what people think?"

"It's not quite that simple," Merlin chuckled, moving the crystal underneath another scanner. Merlin was wearing gloves while he handled the crystal, to keep away visions. They had decided that, even gloved, Merlin should be the only one to touch the crystal. "It's a bit more like suggestion, to help them cope with the absurdity of it. I wish that magic was simple like that. If it was, I probably wouldn't even have needed to use the stupid crystal."

Simmons took one last scan. "That should do it," she said. "If I find anything concrete, I'll be sure to tell you."

"Excellent." Merlin slipped his crystal back into its velvet pouch and tucked it into his pocket. There was a moment of awkward silence. "Was there anything else that you wanted?" Merlin asked.

Simmons looked as if she was going to say no, but an affirmative answer popped out of her mouth instead. "Would you mind if I took some scans of you? I mean, you, for your magic? You know, for scientific purposes? I've never had the chance to study someone with powers like yours."

Fitz, hearing the question, glanced over at Merlin and mouthed, "I told you something like this would happen."

Merlin stuttered, trying to find words. "I—I guess." He'd never had someone ask him that question before. It sounded very strange, to say the least. He knew Tony had had FRIDAY scan him before, but he suspected that what Simmons had in mind was going to be very different.

* * *

Merlin sat still as Simmons attached electrodes to his temples. He had a monitor on the index finger of each of his hands and he was wearing special goggles. He was sitting in a special room, designed to block any sort of interference from outside.

Simmons adjusted a few more things, checking the wires, than smiled. "I'll be back in ten or fifteen minutes. I want you to raise the water out of that glass," Simmons pointed to a cup of water on the floor. "Then I want you to freeze it, then make it evaporate. There's a fish-eye camera lens up there," she said pointing into a corner. "Just so you know where to look."

Simmons grinned, and left the room, closing the door behind her. There was a hiss as the door sealed closed. Merlin shifted uncomfortably. There were enough wires on him to build a bomb. Merlin sighed. He could just hear Tony, Bruce and Fitz laughing at him. Merlin was sure that he looked like a low-budget cyborg. Ah, well. Might as well just get it over with.

* * *

Several hours later found Merlin collapsing exhaustedly onto his bed. Simmons had been ecstatic about the information she had gathered, and coerced Merlin into a full examination of his abilities. That had been a mistake. Hours of scanners, rays, and questions left him wanting nothing more than to never speak to anyone ever again.

Merlin decided that he would never again subject himself to such torture.

* * *

 ***Clint's Hawkeye stuff is him visiting his family for a few days. The Avengers don't trust Merlin 100% yet, so they didn't tell him.**

 **And Thor only heard** ** _rumors_** **about Merlin. There was no legends about him on Asgard, just rumors of a powerful Midgardian sorcerer. just wanted to make that clear. We'll probably get into a little more on Thor later.**

 **Thanks for reviewing, favoriting and following!**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	13. Chapter 13

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Finally, chapter 13! This chapter. I can't even describe it. I hope you like. I had to rewrite it several times. Coulson is director of SHIELD. Skye hasn't gotten her powers. She's still a funny, sort-of silly computer geek. There isn't much Skye, unfortunately, I couldn't find a real way to put her in where it felt natural, and the AOS people are going bye-bye this chapter. There were just too many freaking characters! It got too stressful trying to fit everyone in without neglecting one character or another.**

 **Anyway. Enjoy! this is by far the longest chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Shawn Spencer senses that I don't own this stuff. He happens to be right. (I don't own** ** _Psych_** **either.)**

* * *

"Mr. Merlin, Mr. Stark has invited you to the breakfast hall. He wishes to speak with you."

"…."

"Mr. Merlin."

"…mmmm…."

"Mr. Merlin! Wake up!"

Merlin shot to his feet, magic at the ready and fists cocked. "What?" he shouted in alarm, looking around wildly, hair mussed and face pale and confused. "What's going on?"

There was a chuckle from the ceiling. It was Tony's AI, FRIDAY. "Merlin, Mr. Stark would like you to come to the breakfast hall," she said. "He would like to talk with you."

Merlin breathed out. "Okay. Yes. Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes."

Merlin dressed and headed toward the breakfast hall. He'd had strange dreams last night. Things from his vision zoomed in on specific points. Meaningless sounds. Indecipherable words. Maybe it had stemmed from his trepidation about Miss Simmons' tests and his continued fear of the three figures in his vision.

The elevator dinged, interrupting Merlin's thoughts. The doors opened. A man and a woman stepped inside. The man had thinning, brownish hair, and he was wearing a suit. The woman was of Asian descent, and she was dressed in tight black clothing, similar to the Black Widow's. The man nodded. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson," he said. "Director of what's left of SHIELD. This is Agent Melinda Mei." The woman nodded stiffly.

Merlin eyed the large gun strapped to the woman's hip and twiddled his fingers awkwardly. "Hello."

The man, Phil, hit the stop button on the elevator. "I want to know why you're here," he said.

Merlin shrugged. "I... had a funny feeling," he chuckled. "Something big is going to go down soon, and I want to try and stop it before it starts."

The two agents stared Merlin down, trying to find a lie. Apparently, they found none, because Agent Coulson hit the button on the elevator, and it started to move. He smiled wryly. "Sorry about that," he said. "Steve told me what you told the others. You're really Merlin, huh?"*

Merlin smirked. "Yeah. I'm the real thing. I'm an ancient artifact. Even more ancient than the Captain."

Agent Mei smirked for some reason.

The elevator doors slid open again. Phil Coulson and Melinda Mei stepped out. "Good to meet you," Coulson said. "The Avengers trust you, which is the only reason why I'm not dragging you to a special prison cell right now." Coulson smiled widely. "Good bye."

Melinda Mei's mouth lifted in a tiny smile. "See you," she said, her voice smooth. "Don't die."

The two agents disappeared from view as the elevator doors closed once again.

 _That was strange_ , Merlin thought.

Finally, the elevator doors opened to reveal the breakfast hall. The Avengers, still minus Clint, were eating various breakfasts. Bruce and Sam were missing as well. Tony was chowing down on a heaping bowl of Coco Puffs. The box was on the table next to him. He grabbed at it protectively, but Merlin snatched it out of his hands.

Chocolate was definitely one of the world's best inventions. Especially European chocolate.

Merlin poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down. "So what was it that you wanted?" Merlin asked Tony around a mouthful of Coco Puffs.

Tony swallowed his mouthful. "Cap wanted me to offer you a place to stay until you—we—figure out this weird vision. We'd head back to the tower this afternoon, if you want to come. If you have any reconnaissance missions you want to do to find your baddies, we can help with that. I have issues with possibly world-ending catastrophes."

Merlin was surprised. He had kind of thought that Tony had issues with him as well. Merlin suspected that it wasn't that Tony _didn't_ like him, he just had trust issues.

Steve spoke up. "We'd like to work as a team with you. We want to stop… whatever it is you say is coming, before it comes."

Natasha, Sam, Thor, Vision, Wanda, and even Tony nodded.

Merlin hardly even had to think about it. "If you'll have me, that would be perfect."

"Perfect," Tony said, clapping his hands together. "Everyone get your stuff. We're going back to the tower right now. This place is way too boring. Too much gray."

* * *

The tower was comfortably decorated, and it felt lived in too. Merlin could feel residues of magic as well. He suspected that the strong emotions of the various Avengers had colored the air here permanently.

Tony had even given Merlin his own floor. Officially, it was a guest floor, but it had all of the amenities. Full-sized kitchen, bathroom with jet tub and shower, two bedrooms, an office and a living space with a TV.

Merlin had gone shopping to pick up some clothes, as his nearest house was over two hours away, and Merlin didn't feel like traveling, even by magic. Merlin had enough money anyway. The combined money in his all of bank accounts (which were under several different names) was over seven million American dollars.

Merlin and the Avengers were once again gathered in the kitchen. Merlin thought that, as long as it had food, the Avengers were happy. The SHIELD agents had stayed at the compound. Merlin had heard something about a guy with a metal arm and a metal leg, or something like that. He wasn't sure on the details.

Simmons had shown Merlin her research. She had also taken different scans of Wanda. Simmons, with Fitz's help had pointed out the slight similarities between Wanda and Merlin's powers. Mainly, though, Simmons had wondered about the vast differences. Simmons had also been captivated with the similarities between the tesseract's power and Merlin's. She had gushed about it being similar to certain radioactive elements. Merlin had started to tune it out by then. Too many technical terms. Merlin was a smart guy, but this was breaking his brain.

Simmons had also introduced Merlin to a girl named Skye. Skye had been friendly, and Merlin liked her. She had challenged Merlin to a Pac-Man contest. Skye had won by a landslide, but Merlin didn't care. It was nice to just have casual acquaintances. Simmons had been upset that she and her team had to leave so quickly, but she had told Merlin that she would try to keep in contact. Merlin had smiled and said that he would like that.

Merlin tapped his fingers on the tabletop idly. He had eaten his fill of potato chips and Pop Tarts. Now he was waiting for everyone else to finish. Thor had eaten nearly three full boxes of Pop Tarts and he didn't appear to be stopping any time soon.

"So…" Merlin began. "Should I go find a lead to follow about my vision, or are we just going to do nothing?"

Tony nearly choked on his Cookies-n-Cream Pop Tart. "Have you ever had any fun, ever? Or are you just so old and decrepit that you want to put work before pleasure, like Cap?"

Merlin chuckled ruefully. "Maybe I have been that way for the past few years." His smile faded. "Without anybody to do things with, responsibility starts to be higher on your list than fun, because without friends or family, it _isn't_ very fun." Now Merlin frowned thoughtfully. Almost to himself, Merlin said, "I haven't had friends in years."

That wasn't exactly true; Merlin had had friends, but they had only been there for a year at most. Then they would drift away, or Merlin would move. Merlin didn't like to stay in one place for too long. Any friends that Merlin had were mostly just grocery store clerks. Those were wave-as-you-pass-in-the-grocery-store relationships, not really stop-and-say-hello relationships.

The Avengers were silent at Merlin's comment, just now realizing what hundreds of years of living had to do to a person.

Tony decided to set out to fix that. Personally, he hated being lonely. Being alone, he liked, being lonely, no.

"I have an idea," he said, licking his fingers. "Let's procrastinate, and put off your responsibility for a day or seven. We'll show you how the Avengers have a good time."

* * *

Merlin stood in a large, empty room. The floor was rather squashy, but firm enough to run, jump and walk without difficulty. The walls and ceiling were padded as well. There were no windows, but the room was well-lit by recessed lights.

The Avengers were in various forms of workout clothes. Clint was still missing. Bruce was there, this time, though. Merlin was in sweats, a t-shirt and comfortable tennis shoes. Tony and Sam seemed to be laughing at someone, but Merlin couldn't tell who the stifled giggles were directed at. Natasha was glaring at everyone in general.

Merlin had a sneaking suspicion what this was.

Training time.

"It's training time, cupcakes!" Tony shouted. Tony grinned at Merlin. "Time to see what you can do. No magic during the spars, unless we say so, because that's cheating."

"It's called using your resources," Merlin muttered good-naturedly. Natasha smirked at him. "I tell that to Tony all the time," she told him. "Tony never listens."

Steve grinned and slapped Merlin on the back, making Merlin stumble forward a step. "We'll set you against Tony first," Steve said. "Tony knows his way around a fist fight, but he doesn't hit as hard without his suit. We're trying to rectify that. Can you throw a punch?"

Merlin nodded. He had trained in hand-to-hand hundreds of years ago and had practiced at least two hours every day, five days a week since then. He'd even had Gwaine teach him a few things after Arthur's death. Merlin had had many masters and experts teach him different technics. Merlin could hold his own in most fist fights. But then again, these were the Avengers and they were in a whole different league.

Tony and Merlin faced each other in the center of the room, fists cocked. They were both wearing mouth guards and they were barefooted. The others lined the walls. Something told Merlin that this was unusual. He suspected that they were watching them to gauge his skills.

"On three, start," Steve called. "One… three!"

Tony threw an experimental punch, which Merlin dodged with ease. The fight escalated from there. Merlin delivered hits, and took a few, although the fight seemed to be tipping in his favor quickly. Merlin's fighting style was possibly unique; hundreds of years of fighting, drilled into his brain led to a strange mix of offensive and defensive strategies.

Merlin ended up winning the fight two minutes and thirty-six seconds in. Merlin slammed a fist into Tony's jaw, knocking him to the ground. Natasha counted to ten. Tony just lay on the ground, groaning. Merlin offered him a hand. Tony took it after several seconds and let Merlin pull him to his feet.

"I hate you," Tony said, his voice slightly slurry. Tony worked his jaw and wiped sweat off his forehead. "I hate you so much. I was hoping to win a hand-to-hand spar for once."

"You've improved from miserable to mediocre," Natasha told Tony. "Nice job," she said to Merlin, who was panting and rubbing a patch of bruised ribs. Tony could hit hard. "We'll have to pit you against Sam next time."

Merlin looked to Tony while Bruce was checking to make sure that Merlin's ribs weren't cracked. "This is your idea of fun?" Merlin asked incredulously. "I don't know about you, but I like relaxing with a bowl of ice cream while I binge-watch _Psych_ on Netflix."

"We'll get to that," Steve said, tossing Tony and Merlin water bottles. "Training comes first. Actually, we all think that Tony secretly likes getting his butt kicked, because he doesn't complain as much as we expected him too."

"Haha," Tony said, twisting the cap off his bottle and taking a drink. "I say Cap and Nat go, and then we throw Sam at Mr. Magic. And then we have a tourney between Mr. Magic and Little Miss Witch."

Wanda shook her head quickly. "I'd rather just spar hand-to-hand," she said, tugging on the bottom of her t-shirt. "I know when I'm outmatched. I would not have a chance against Merlin. Don't you remember how he smashed apart my powers?"

"It's fine," Steve told her. "Nat and I will have a go at each other, then we'll work with you." Wanda nodded, relieved. She didn't want to admit it, but Merlin still made her nervous. She remembered vividly the terror she had felt when Merlin had broken the bonds she had placed around him.

Steve and Natasha ended up calling their fight a draw after seven minutes. Merlin's fight against Sam ended in Merlin being slammed against a wall. He hadn't been able to take a full breath for nearly a minute. Now the front of his ribs _and_ the back of his ribs hurt. Bruce had been severely annoyed. Sam was probably still smarting from the tongue lashing he had received.

When Merlin had recuperated, Thor wanted a demonstration of Merlin's magic. Tony had wanted someone to fight Merlin, but Wanda refused again. Vision and Thor had volunteered at the same time. Steve had (much to Tony's chagrin) declared that it had to be a one-on-one battle. Vision had _graciously_ offered to go against Merlin at a later time.

Merlin glanced at Thor's bulging muscles and the shoe box-sized hammer clutched in his fist and swallowed. This wasn't going to be fun.

Thor grinned at Merlin. "Worry not, Merlin. I won't hurt you more than necessary."

Merlin's answering grin was one hundred percent fake. "Thanks."

Merlin knew that if he had any chance of forestalling his death, he had to strike quickly. He immediately sent a blast of concussive force at Thor. Thor threw himself backwards with the wave of magic, and managed to land on his feet.

Thor grinned again. "You have considerable strength." Thor swung his hammer. "But not enough to best me!" A blast of lightning almost fried Merlin. Merlin blinked back bad memories of the few times he had used lightning. Nimeuh and various dying friends and relatives were at the forefront of his mind.

Merlin and Thor fought back and forth, nearly evenly matched. Merlin couldn't tell who was pulling ahead. The low ceiling prevented Thor from using his hammer-copter ability, which definitely helped Merlin's case.

Thor dodged another strike from Merlin, who had managed to avoid being zapped so far. Time seemed to slow down as Thor threw his hammer, sending it flying straight towards Merlin's unprotected chest.

Merlin knew he couldn't get out of its way fast enough. So, dreading the pain he was about to feel, he waited for the hammer to strike. And waited.

Then he realized that time had actually slowed down. It was funny. Merlin had never gained full control over this particular ability. It was 98.5% instinctual. The other 1.5% was dumb luck. Merlin glanced around. The Avengers were watching raptly from the edges of the room, frozen in the stand-still. Thor looked to be enjoying himself, feet off the floor as he was frozen in mid-leap.

Merlin stepped out of the way of the hammer just before it touched him. As time resumed its normal pace, Merlin shouted a binding command, along with a sleeping charm. The hammer smashed a hole into the opposite wall and Thor froze, confused and woozy.

Tony blinked. "What the crap just happened?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Magic, duh."

* * *

The Avengers and Merlin had all gotten cleaned up. Tony, Sam, Wanda, and even Natasha had started teasing Thor about his _royal butt-whooping_ as they had called it and Thor was arguing that it hadn't been a true defeat. Merlin had explained about his strange and unreliable ability to slow time, and the Avengers had gaped.

They were just starting to grasp the true extent of Merlin's powers.

Steve was ignoring most of the commotion. He was talking with Natasha and Vision. "I don't have any more doubts," Steve said. "I believe him. He's Merlin. Who else could beat Thor like that?"

"No one," Vision said. "Except perhaps me and Dr. Banner." Vision hadn't said that out of pride. He was pretty much the only Avenger who would have a chance against Thor.

"We'll still need to keep an eye on him until we're one hundred percent sure that we can trust him," Natasha said, keeping her voice low. Steve and Vision nodded seriously.

The rest of the Avengers, plus Merlin were engaged in a shouting match, because they had decided to play a round of Go-Fish while they waited for their companions to return. Tony was being accused of cheating. (Merlin was the one who was really cheating. He was skilled at using magic to his own personal ends.) To stop the shouting, Tony had promised to take everyone for a round of shawarma... as soon as he kicked everyone's butt at Go-Fish.


	14. Chapter 14

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Chapter (which one is it again?) 14. Fun fun. This chapter went in a very different direction than I thought it would. Here it is, my little ponies. Please enjoy.**

 **BTW, I keep forgetting this, this is after Age of Ultron. I know Bruce leaves right after that, but, for the sake of the story, I have delayed his departure. I'm not sure if/when he'll leave. We'll see.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Owlishly is a fun word. I enjoy it very much.**

* * *

Merlin took a long drink of water. He was stuffed. The shawarma that Tony had ordered in had been surprisingly good. They were basically pieces of pita bread filled with meat. Merlin decided that he liked shawarma.

On the couch next to him, Thor was polishing off another piece. "Delicious!" he crowed. Thor elbowed Merlin, who grimaced and rubbed his ribs. "Your world may be primitive," Thor said, licking his fingers. "But they do know a thing or two about food."

Merlin grinned. "They've learned much since the Middle Ages. Food is one hundred percent better than it was."

Tony laughed from where he was slouched on the floor, rubbing his stomach. "I'll bet it has!" he said loudly. "They didn't even have Cheetos back than!"

Bruce rolled his eyes from where he was sitting, sipping a cup of tea. Bruce had wisely chosen to restrain himself when it came to over eating. The only other person who wasn't in a food coma was Vision. Vision didn't eat much.

Wanda was sitting on the floor, leaning against Vision's knees. Steve was sitting next to Vision, wondering if his extra fast metabolism was on the fritz. Sam was groaning, spread eagle on the floor. Natasha was on Merlin's other side. "What time is it?" she asked, eyes closed.

"FRIDAY," Tony called. "What's the time?"

"It is 2:53 in the afternoon, Boss."

Tony groaned, long and loud. "I have a press conference at 3:30," he said, pushing himself heavily to his feet. "I gotta go. Pepper is going to kill me if I'm late. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Tony stumbled into the elevator. The doors dinged as they closed.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone took in this new development. "Should we sticky note his room?" Sam wondered. "We could booby-trap his toilet. Fill his bed with shaving cream."

"That's disgusting," Steve moaned from his position.

"Man," Natasha muttered sourly, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling. "I wish Clint was here. It's so boring without him. He always has good ideas. He'd have a great idea for a prank. Or he would start a pillow fight or something, and then we could all try to kill him for bugging us."

Nobody spoke, boredom and over-indulgence keeping the quiet reigning. It was nearly ten full minutes before anyone said anything, each off in their own version of dreamland. Steve and Wanda had actually fallen asleep, Steve slumped across the couch, snoring gently, and Wanda on the floor, an arm wrapped around one of Vision's legs. Vision appeared perfectly fine with this. Finally, Merlin stretched and stood. He could hear his spine clicking.

"Well," he said, "if we're not going to do anything, than I'm going to try and find the people who are threatening the safety of the world."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sam said, lifting his head off the floor and glaring at Merlin. "This is team bonding time. Tony had a real excuse for leaving. He had to go to a press conference. Pepper told him too. And when Pepper tells you to do something, you do it. But you... you have no excuse."

Merlin didn't know who Pepper was, but he didn't really care at that point. The world was in danger! "Why isn't preventing a world-ending disaster a good enough reason to leave?"

Sam stabbed a finger into the air. "The world is not currently ending," he said. "Therefore, we have a little bit of time to relax."

"He has a point, you know," Natasha called, running her fingers through her hair. "Don't be a Steve."

Steve jerked awake at the sound of his name with a loud snort. He jerked to feet, hand snapping to his forehead in a salute. "Yes, sir!" he snapped, eyes blinking owlishly.

Merlin blinked while Natasha laughed. "What?"

Steve glanced around, rubbed his eyes, and blushed. "Sorry," he muttered apologetically. "Old habits die hard."

Merlin nodded and patted slapped Steve on the shoulder. "Don't I know that," he said.

Sam grumbled something unintelligible. "That's what we're doing! We're trying to break you of your old, nasty habits!" he said. "Saving the world can wait until after relaxing. You said yourself that we have two months, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then we'll probably survive if you don't get started on your sneaky spying until tomorrow, right?"

"I guess, but—"

"Then let's do some karaoke!" Sam shoved himself to his feet. "Or watch a movie, or play Mario Kart, or something."

"I call Mario," Natasha said, grabbing a controller from a hidden cabinet underneath the flat screen TV. She tossed controllers to everyone else, almost smacking the sleeping Wanda in the face. Wanda startled awake as Vision caught the sleek black controller. Vision smiled at her. "I'll be Bowser," Vision said, focusing on the flat screen.

The group was just starting a race down when a loud, shrieking alarm blared. The lights flashed, and the TV flicked off. A cold, controlled voice spoke, saying the same thing over and over; _Lower Manhattan._ Merlin cringed and covered his ears, dropping his controller onto his lap. Everyone else leaped to their feet, sprinting to the elevator. Vision just phased through the window, flying out of sight. FRIDAY opened a window for Thor, who whirled his hammer in a circle, shooting after Vision.

"What's going on?" Merlin shouted at Steve, who was just stepping into the elevator. Merlin skipped between the closing doors, squeezing in next to Wanda, Natasha and Bruce as the elevator shot downward. "What's going on?" Merlin asked again, over the blaring alarm, which still shrieked just as loud in the elevator. "Who's dying?"

"Nobody's dying," Steve said, distress coloring his voice. "That alarm is the Assemble Call. FRIDAY, Call acknowledged and accepted. Avengers are in route."

The blaring alarm died, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.

"What's the situation?" Wanda asked, her accent slightly heavier than normal. Maybe it was the stress.

"Is… the Other Guy needed?" Bruce asked, wringing his hands, face pale, but determined.

"Yes, Mr. Banner, sir. There are… medusa-like creatures attacking lower Manhattan. Iron Man is already on his way. He's says he'll get the party started."

"Medusa?" Wanda wondered as they stepped into the equipment room.

"A snake-haired monster from Greek myths," Natasha explained hurriedly as she strapped on her Widow's Bite gauntlets. Wanda slipped on her scarlet jacket and stuffed a small cube of what looked like Jell-O into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. "Energy gel," she explained, yanking on a pair of gloves. "It keeps me going longer, especially when I have to use my powers."

Steve emerged from behind a locker, dressed in his suit, strapping on his helmet. His circular shield was on his back. Merlin grimaced at the sight of it, remembering some very painful cracked ribs.

"What do you want me to do?" Merlin asked. "I can help you."

Natasha, Wanda and Bruce glanced at each other, then hurried out a door. Merlin glimpsed a jet hanger through the closing door. Steve took a breath, and Merlin turned his attention back to the icon before him.

"What you can do," Steve said sternly, his voice flat, but somehow regretful, "is stay here. The Avengers are a team, and frankly, we know next to nothing about you; your strengths and weaknesses, your abilities. Right now, you're a wild card. We saw that one demonstration earlier, but we need to see more, to be one hundred percent sure that you're capable of helping during a battle of this scale. After we get to know you more, do a little more training, make sure that you're not a liability, then, I swear, you can help us in battle, but until then, sit tight. FRIDAY will keep you updated."

Merlin opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but found he couldn't! Captain Rogers had a valid point. Of course, Merlin could take care of himself, and others at the same time, but the Avengers didn't know that. And so the couldn't trust (for the moment) that Merlin wasn't a liability. For the most part, he had been unconscious while they knew him. That might have had something to do with their hesitance.

Merlin hated it when people he was arguing with had valid points.

Steve disappeared into the jet hanger. Merlin heard the sound of engines purring. The purr rose to an even roar, and then faded. Everything was dead quiet. Merlin uncertainly turned back to the elevator and stepped inside. There were a whole lot of buttons. There were five buttons marked with a _B_. Merlin assumed that those were basement buttons. Besides those, there were buttons marked 1 through 93.

Merlin had no idea which floor he had been on with the Avengers. And, like the idiot he was, he couldn't remember the number the guest floor was on. Merlin new they had gone down, but how far, he couldn't guess. Merlin slammed the _50_ button. That was as good a place to start as any. The elevator dinged and Merlin felt the strange pressured feeling that comes with elevator rides.

The doors slid open. The open doors revealed a busy office space. Several people stopped and stared. Merlin blushed. He raised his hand and twiddled his fingers awkwardly. "Hello."

The place was filled with the low, chattering hum of a busy workplace. A brown-haired lady wearing a purple shirt and a white coat hurried over. "Are you the new intern?" she asked, grabbing his arm and leading Merlin toward a cluttered desk. "I'm Vanessa. You can organize this table to start. Budget files go in that box, office supplies in that drawer. If the phone rings, answer it. Ask Emmaline over there about anything you need to know. She's the head intern."

The woman, Vanessa disappeared, her coat swirling behind her.

Merlin blinked in confusion. What on earth had just happened? Merlin curiously picked up a spare piece of paper and studied it. Budget quotas. Merlin dropped the paper in the box, and tried to slink unobtrusively away. The girl who Vanessa had pointed out hurried over. "I'm Emmaline!" she said excitedly, straightening her glasses and brushing her blond hair out of her face. "You can call me Emma, though. Do you need help over here? Vanessa said that you're new."

"Uh, yeah," Merlin said awkwardly. "But I don't need any help. Actually, I have to go somewhere. It's urgent—"

"Nonsense!" Emma chirped. "I'd be happy to help! Are you British? That's so cool!"

Merlin gulped. The girl's rapid-fire way of speaking was startling. Merlin needed to get out of here. He tried sneaking away several times, but Emma kept spotting him. "Break time is in half an hour," Emma said, her cheeks pink. She took Merlin's hand and dragged him back to the cluttered desk. "Once we've finished, and it's time for break, I'll show you the employee lounge. It's totally nice. It's on the 15th floor."

* * *

Tony grimaced as he blasted one of the medusas. The things were half-way humanoid but they moved a more like lizards, crouched on all fours, a line of spikey fins stretching downs their backs to form a long, slippery tail. Their skin was dark, with thick, slimy scales reflecting back the afternoon light. Tiny snakes wreathed their elongated heads and their eyes were a terrifying blackish-green. Fangs glistened in their over-large, almost snout-like mouths, forked tongues flickering.

The screams of the few civilians left on the scene were haunting. There were probably only thirty of the monsters, but the things were proving incredibly hard to kill, or even injure. Tony's repulsor blasts left steaming dents in the scales, but Tony could tell that the injuries he was dealing were only minor.

The nearest monster hissed and leaped at Tony, filmy gray fangs bared. Tony blasted into the air, but the thing held on tight, claws somehow finding purchase on the cold metal of Tony's suit. Tony spun in midair, flinging the monster in a brick wall, which collapsed on top of it. There was an unearthly shriek, but it sounded more angry than injured.

Tony cursed as he saw a woman being cornered by another one of the monsters. "No!"

The monster leaped at the woman, fangs catching her on the shoulder. The woman screamed, blood spilling from the large holes in her shoulder. The edges of the wound were black. Patches of dark, flaky skin seemed to be spreading from the wound. The Medusa monster lost interest in the woman when Tony's repulsor blast caught it in the face.

The monster was flung backward, straight into Thor's waiting hammer. Electricity crackled. Thor waved as Tony picked up the trembling woman, and carried her to the nearest Med-Evac Unit. A quarantine nurse examined the woman. The nurse glanced up at Tony. "If you kill one of those things, bring it here. We'll need to study it so we can figure out a cure for that." The nurse pointed to a mass of people, dark swirls covering their skin, emanating from terrifyingly large snake bite wounds.

Tony nodded and shot back into the air. "Guys," he called, "we need to take one of these things down. People have been bitten. And BTW, not letting them bite you would be a very good idea."

Tony dodged a leaping monster and shot a missile at the hideous creature. The missile exploded, leaving a beach-ball-sized crater in the street. Debris and smoking bits of… stuff showered the street.

"Well, guys, missiles work on these suckers," Tony panted, spotting Black Widow riding one of the monsters, buzzing the crap out of it with her Widow gauntlets. "But we need to kill one intact, so we can save those civilians. Nice rodeo, Widow. Keep it up."

Tony blasted another missile at a monster sneaking up behind Cap. Cap threw his shield at a monster, snapping its neck. The monster slumped to the ground, dead. "Take that to the med unit!" Cap called. Tony grabbed the slimy creature, surprised at how heavy it was.

Tony heard Hulk's angry roar a few streets over. He dropped the carcass of the monster into a large box, which a team of scientists sealed and loaded into a truck to take to a lab for study. Tony shook his arms vigorously, trying to remove the slimy residue left on his armor. He quickly gave up and headed back into the fight.

Falcon and Vision joined him on the way over. "We need to corral them in one area," Vision said, voice calm, not even breathing hard.

"Agreed," Cap said, voice tinny over the coms. "Falcon, come from the east and get them into the warehouse district. Vision, you come from the north, Iron Man, you come from the west, Thor, guard the south. Wanda, try to keep them distracted, so we don't damage too much property. Widow and I will round up any stragglers. Hulk?"

Tony heard a roar from somewhere in the distance and grinned. "Hulk," Cap said again. "You can smash them as soon as we get them corralled."

Falcon chuckled as Hulk roared again. "I think Hulk has more fun than Banner ever does."

"I'm gonna tell Brucie you said that," Tony called, speeding up. Tony dodged between buildings, blasting the heels of the monsters, sending them scurrying toward the warehouse district. Tony could see pulses of red energy flaring along the walls of the buildings, shielding them from the worst of Hulk's anger, Vision's mind beam, and Tony's explosives.

The Avengers gathered in a group, facing the monsters. Hulk was stomping around the edges of the herd of monsters, smashing any who dared try to escape.

"Stupid Clint misses all the fun," Natasha griped, wiping at her forehead. A bit of blood smeared her temple. "As usual."

"He has to go to the front lines next time," Tony said. "Is this place clear of all civilians? I've got four tank missiles left. That should be enough for the rest of them."

Steve nodded briskly, slamming his shield into a hissing monster's face. "Let 'em have it. Hulk, time to move out. Wanda, you know what to do."

Wanda nodded as Tony prepared his missiles. The Hulk retreated till he was standing among the Avengers. Tony fired his missiles. A red energy shield surrounded the group of monsters as the missiles hit and the Avengers took cover.

There was a muffled explosion. Fire filled the half-dome of pulsing scarlet energy. Wanda grimaced as she kept shrapnel from shredding her teammates and their surroundings. The energy shield flashed brighter red where chunks of broken pavement hit it. Despite Wanda's best efforts, pieces of debris broke through, landing on the cracked pavement. Silence returned quickly, smoke coiling and swirling as Wanda released her shield and sank to the pavement, rubbing her temples. Vision helped her sip from a water bottle.

"Nice job, everyone," Cap panted, removing his helmet and wiping sweat from his brow. "How are Wanda and Bruce?"

"I'm fine," Bruce called, from where he was jerking on a pair of pants, courtesy of Natasha. "Did I break a lot of things?"

Natasha smiled. "No. You did fine. Everyone's fine. Some civilians got injured, but Medical is telling me that they're working on an antivenin right now. It's progressing well."

"Excellent fight, friends!" Thor boomed, holding a fist in the air. "All of you fought with great strength."

"Indeed," Vision agreed. He helped Wanda to her feet. "Your endurance is increasing, my dear. You did a wonderful job."

"Yup. This is great," Tony said sarcastically. "Fine and dandy. And I'll be the one paying for cleanup and all that jazz." Tony had a niggling feeling that something was wrong, even though everything appeared _fine and dandy_.

Something scraped against the pavement. Tony whirled. "Bruce!" he shouted. "Watch out!"

But it was too late. It was already in mid-leap when Bruce saw it. A dark, slimy shape emerging from the growing shadows. A straggler. They must have missed one of the monsters. Drops of cloudy venom hung from the tips of its fangs.

The monster snapped, striking Bruce on the side. Its teeth sank deep. Tony blasted the monster with his repulsors at the same time that Thor's lightning bolt, Vision's mind beam, Wanda's energy ball, Cap's shield and Falcon and Natasha's bullets hit it.

Needless to say, the monster died a quick and painful death.

"Bruce!" Natasha cried, trying to rush forward, but being jerked back by Cap. "Are you all right?"

Her answer was a bone chilling roar of anger.

* * *

Merlin clicked on the TV. He had finally managed to escape Emma and her OCD. He had locked himself in the first empty room that had a TV. He had to know what was going on.

What he saw made his heart drop down into his stomach. Merlin felt bile rising in his throat. This wasn't going to be good. The Hulk was on a rampage.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony scrambled into action. He grabbed Nat and Cap by their waists and blasted into the air. Vision snatched Wanda, and Thor and Falcon followed. Tony dropped Widow and Cap onto a low building a few blocks away from the rampaging Hulk.

Angry (extra angry), out-of-control Hulk was actively heading toward a populated area.

Were the Avengers just bad luck magnets?

Tony decided that he didn't want to know.

"I'm calling in Veronica 2.0," Tony said as he shot back into the air. "Wait here. There's not much you guys can do. Thor, Vision, look out for civilians and get them somewhere safe, then come help me. FRIDAY, you're up." Thor and Vision took off.

"Already on it, Boss. Veronica is in route."

"Good."

The jet-propelled hunk of red and gold metal hissed through the atmosphere, hovering behind Tony as he flew toward Hulk. Large pieces detached from Veronica and closed around the Iron Man armor.

The whine of the repulsors was oddly dimmed in the confines of the huge suit. Tony's heart was pounding and he was breathing hard. Why, oh, why did it have to come to this again? Was _Tony_ just a bad luck magnet?

Tony decided that he didn't want the answer to that, either.

The Veronica Containment Unit flew forward, tracking the Hulk by his unique radiation signature. Not that the trail of destruction wasn't obvious.

Tony could hear metal screeching in the difference, almost inaudible over the angry roars of the Hulk. Tony dodged around another building, and came to a stop in midair, hovering over the terrifying sight of Hulk ripping through the VCU as easily as if it were made of paper.

Hulk pushed through the jagged edges of the torn metal and glared at Tony. Tony raised his hands, trying to ready himself for Hulk. But alas, not much can prepare one to face the wrath of the Hulk.

Hulk grabbed the containment unit and hurled it at Tony, roaring at the same time.

Tony tried to dodge around the hunk of ruined metal, but it still clipped his left foot. The repulsor stuttered annoyingly, making maneuvering six billion times more difficult.

Hulk continued snatching bits of rubble and hurling them at Tony. Tony was having a hard time dodging the _large_ bits of flotsam.

"I'm pretty sure that Hulksie remembers who Veronica is," Tony grunted, speaking to no one in particular. "We need to end this before he ends me! FRIDAY, deploy flares!"

Flaps opened in the suit, and tiny missiles intercepted the chunks of rubble that were currently on a path to smash Tony. Without waiting for the smoke to clear, Tony shot forward, metal fists cocked and at the ready… only to find that Hulk and mysteriously disappeared.

Tony felt a bead of sweat trickle all the way down his spine. His breath rattled sharply in his ears.

"FRIDAY," Tony said cautiously, hating the quaver in his voice. "Where's Hulk?"

Before the AI could answer, Tony was slammed forward violently. He flipped through the air, smashing several walls down in the process. Tony groaned as he slid to a stop. He could feel bruises blooming between his shoulder blades and on his arms… and pretty much everywhere. He could feel the soreness of whiplash in his neck. Obviously he needed to upgrade the padding in his suit.

Tony pushed himself to his feet as quickly as he could. He got up just in time to stop the large green fist heading for his face. Tony blocked it with his forearm. He could feel his teeth vibrating from the force of the blow.

Hulk roared in his face, spittle flying and splattering onto the faceplate. Tony cringed away, slamming his fist into Hulk's jaw. The rocket-powered punch sent Hulk flying into a wall. Hulk brushed it off without a flinch and growled angrily.

Tony shot into the air again. He flew as high as he could, turned, and rocketed back down, fists forward, ready to deliver a punch that would hopefully knock Hulk out. Hopefully.

The hit landed. A shockwave blared out from the struggling pair. A cloud of dust rose.

* * *

Cap and the rest of the team waited anxiously on the rooftop. Steve pressed a finger to the com unit in his ear. "Thor, Vision, how's the civilian situation?"

Vision answered. "Thor and I have cleared the area. There are no civilians within six blocks of the current fighting. Thor and I are on our way to assist Mr. Stark."

"Hurry."

* * *

Tony blinked. The light was muted was the dust and the setting sun, and it washed everything in a golden glow. Sounds seemed to echo unnaturally loud in the cloud. Tony winced as his metal gauntlet crunched on a piece of rubble. He pushed himself slowly to his feet.

"Brucie?" he called uncertainly, voice made metallic by the suit. "Are you out there?"

Silence. Complete, eerie silence.

Tony's anxiety/terror levels shot off the charts. His breathing was loud in his ears and grating in his lungs.

"Thor," Tony croaked, hating the break in his voice. "Vision? You guys out there?"

"We are here, shield brother," a voice said behind Tony. Tony started and whirled as quickly as his suit would allow. Two figures loomed out of the mist. Tony saw a flash of red fabric. He relaxed slightly. "Thor, Vision," he said. "'Bought time you two got here. Do you see Hulk anyw—"

Tony's question was cut off with a strangled grunt as he was shoved so violently forward that he came crashing down on top of Thor and Vision. Tony's vision went fuzzy, black spots dancing before his eyes.

Holy crap. How hard had Hulksie hit him? Tony felt sort of squashed in his suit. His head was pounding like a drum. He definitely needed to put more padding in his helmet. And maybe even reinforce the Veronica Intervention Suit.

Tony thought that he could hear voices, but they were tinny and wobbly. "I th'nk I nee' a nap, guy's," he mumbled as his eyes closed. "I'll jus' be a min'."

* * *

Thor and Vision shouted and shoved at the enormously heavy armor that had slammed into them. It was limp, or as limp as a super-huge robotic exoskeleton could be. Thor, with help from Vision, managed to shove it off them. It slammed into the ground, face-first, with a metallic clang.

Thor and Vision stood back to back, edging in a circle. "Banner!" Thor called. "Come back to us! We don't want—"

A pebble clicking was all the warning they had. A huge green hand slapped Thor into the side of a building, which must have been structurally compromised, because it crumbled to pieces on top of him, burying him in a huge mound of rubble.

Vision blasted Hulk with his mind-beam, but all it did was make Hulk angry. He roared again, eyes a dark, angry green, and leaped at Vision like a giant, very angry, green bull.

Hulk tried to snatch Vision out of the air, but Vision phased through the thick, clutching fingers. Hulk growled angrily and tried again. Again, he failed.

Hulksie then decided to take a more traditional path and hurled a smashed car at his opponent, which he leaped behind so closely that he caught Vision by surprise, slamming him into the concrete so hard that a crater was formed, cracks spider-webbing out for several feet. For good measure, Hulk stomped Vision into the pavement, covering him with several feet of dirt and debris.

"Thor and I require assistance!" Vision grunted heavily. He phased through his early grave and continued the fight. He had heard, and partially ignored the teams' panicked questions, not to be rude (Vision was nothing if not polite) but because he slightly better things to be doing, such as not getting squashed.

Cap grimaced. "We'll try and help, but with Tony and the Veronica Intervention Suit out of commission, I'm not sure how much we can do. But we'll try. ETA five minutes."

In the distance, as Cap waited to be ferried down to the ground by Falcon, he could hear Hulk roaring. He could also hear an odd humming sound. Steve tilted his head to the side, trying to catch the sound better. It was steadily growing louder. A breeze picked up as the sound turned into a steady rumble. Steve glanced up.

"Yes!" he shouted, throwing a fist into the air. "Clint!"

Steve could see Clint grinning and waving from the front seat of the Quin-Jet. The bay doors opened, and Steve climbed inside, followed by the rest of the team. Steve pressed a finger to his com. "Falcon, take Wanda. We'll meet you there."

"Clint," Natasha smirked. "Good to see you, you lazy butt."

"Nice to see you too, Sugar Queen," Clint tossed over his shoulder. "Nathanial misses you."

The tired little puff of air that blew out of Natasha's nose almost counted as a laugh. Clint could tell that she was stressed, though.

The hum of the engines was quiet inside the jet. The ride only took a minute. Which was several hundred hours too fast.

But when they stepped out of the Quin-Jet, all was silent. Plumes of dust still hung in the air, swirling in the fading light. Steve gripped his shield. "Hello?" he called cautiously. "Anyone out here?"

A dim figure bloomed into sight from the dirty air. The team tensed.

The figure raised its hands and stepped out of the gloom. "It is only I, the mighty Thor." Thor's hair was covered with dust, and there were smears of blood on his face. His cape was ripped nearly to shreds. He was fingering it sadly with one hand, hammer gripped in the other. "The Hulk took us by surprise. He bested the Iron Warrior, and me. I regret it deeply."

The tension seeped out of the air, but something still seemed wrong. "What's up?" Sam asked, stepping up behind Steve. "Where's Hulk?"

Thor shrugged despondently. Another figure appeared next to Thor. It was Merlin. Steve sighed, annoyed, but not having enough energy to care.

"No offense," Steve said, "but what are you doing here? I thought that I told you why—"

"Sorry," Merlin said, looking apologetic. "But you needed help. I couldn't just sit and do nothing. Surely you understand."

Steve sighed and nodded, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Where's Tony?"

Merlin pointed over his shoulder. "Vision and Thor say that he was injured. He's conscious now. A bit loopy, but Vision is working on getting him out of the mega suit."

Natasha glanced around searchingly. "Where's Bruce?" she asked. "Did you get him out of it?"

Merlin nodded uncertainly, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I cast a spell," he said, "a calming spell, together with a sleeping spell and an immobilization spell. It brought him out of it, but he went off to find some clothes. He told me he'd meet us back by Tony. Come on."

Merlin led the way through the settling dust to the giant cuboid of red and gold metal that was the Veronica Intervention Unit. Tony was leaning against it. There was a largish knot behind his ear. He looked pale and sweaty, and there was a bruise on cheek. Vision was hovering over him. Literally.

"Hey guys," Tony said, raising a hand. "'Sup?"

"Oh, not much," Clint said, flinging an arm around Steve's shoulders. "Just laughing at how badly you got your butt whooped."

"Haha," Tony muttered. "You're just jealous that my cool points went up by about 7.9 billion."

"Whatever," Clint chuckled. He looked around. The dust was clearing. He let out a low whistle. "You guys sure did a number to this place," he muttered.

Wanda hung her head. "I did the best I could to protect it," she said. "I'm sorry."

"You did wonderfully," Merlin said, patting her on the shoulder. "I've seen damage much worse than this. Besides, it's harder to create and protect than it is to destroy. Everyone knows that."

Wanda smiled gratefully. She was glad that someone understood. "Thank you."

Natasha sighed. "How long has Bruce been gone?" she asked. "He's probably not very happy right now."

Merlin frowned. "He left a while ago," Merlin said. "I offered to conjure him some clothes, but he refused. Said he needed some alone time."

Natasha's face went white. "Clint, did you close the Quin-Jet?"

Clint shook his head. "No. Why?"

Natasha cursed and sprinted back in the direction they'd come. Merlin and the team (minus Tony and Vision) ran after her.

They were too late. The Quin-Jet was already hovering several hundred feet overhead. The plates on the belly of the jet flickered and disappeared while Natasha screamed a few choice obscenities. She quickly regained her control, plastering on a face devoid of emotion, except for the continued paleness of her face.*

"He's put it in stealth mode," she said, voice as thin and cutting as a razor blade. "We can't track him in stealth mode. Let's go back to the tower. I'm sick of this day."

* * *

In the tower, Tony was holding an icepack to his head, and Thor was washing blood off his face. The others were all in various stages of cleaning up. Clint and Merlin were just chilling next to each other on the couch.

It was a bit awkward.

"So," Merlin muttered, stroking the arm of the couch, "was there… something… going on with Dr. Banner and Miss Romanoff? She seemed a bit… put out by his disappearance."

Clint shrugged, settling further into the cushions. "Yeah. They were a thing. Sort of. But Bruce is the kind of guy who pushes people away _for their own good._ I'd bet a lot of money that's why he left. Hulk injured members of the team. Tony's got a minor concussion, Thor is sore, not to mention Hulk made a big bill in property damage. That guy has debilitating guilt issues. Sometimes, he thinks that nobody could possibly be happy and safe with him around. That's why Nat was so ticked. She knows that he left for us."

Merlin nodded. He'd run away once when he was a child, because he'd accidentally set his mother's skirt on fire. His mother had found him hiding in the woods, and assured him that he was forgiven. Merlin had been a much more reserved and morose child after that, especially concerning his abilities.

Steve walked toward them. He stood in front of the couch. "I understand the reasons you came to help," he said, staring Merlin down "and it's a good thing that you did help, because I don't want to think about what would have happened if you didn't, but next time, please stay where we tell you. Just until we know what you're capable of." He moved away, leaving the silence stretching thick as glue.

Clint reached over and slapped Merlin's shoulder. "We all kinda went through that sucky _you're a rookie_ stage. Nobody likes it. I had to go through it again after the Chituari Incident. The team had big-time trust issues."

They lapsed into a long silence.

One by one, the team members wandered out. Tony was muttering to himself as he left, something about wondering if Pepper was home to baby him. Thor headed out with seven boxes of Pop-Tarts tucked under his arm. Wanda, Vision, Natasha and Steve left about the same time, probably heading for their beds.

Sam plopped onto the couch next to Merlin, sucking up a chocolate milkshake.

Sam set his empty cup on the side table and glanced at Merlin, grinning. "You like Mario Kart?"

* * *

Two hours later found the trio screaming at each other over their controllers and bowls of popcorn. Merlin maneuvered Mario through his opponents on Rainbow Road. He was in third, behind Clint and a CPU.

He ended up winning second place.

Merlin threw his controller down. "I'm done," he groaned. "If I play one more time, I'll either have a seizure or a conniption."

Clint chuckled. "Sam and I have major competitions every couple of weeks. Nat sometimes joins in. She's really bad, though. Steve is better than her. It totally ticks her off. There's usually a tie between Tony and I, though."

Sam frowned. "I always come in second. I think Clint cheats."

"How do you cheat at Mario Kart?" Clint scoffed. "I just have oodles of natural skill."

"Or you use cheat codes," Sam countered, tossing his controller onto the couch.

Merlin snickered, happy to be above the argument. With startling speed and ferocity, the bickering Avengers turned on him. "So you've never cheated before, have you?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows. "Once I caught Steve cheating at Monopoly when he was the banker. If Steve's cheated, there's no way that you've never cheated."

Clint nodded. "Tell us," he ordered.

Merlin fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not sure that—"

"Tell us!" Sam repeated. "You don't have a choice. We'll booby-trap your bedroom every hour on the hour until you tell us."

"Fine!" Merlin snapped. "If you two jokers will shut up, I'll explain. Arthur and the knights use to invite me to gamble. On dice games, and the such. Since I never did, they assumed I was a horrible gambler. One day, I finally caved. We played dice. Bet on one number. All money in the pot to the winner. The game was relatively even, with me just on the losing side, and Arthur was getting cocky. I decided to teach him a lesson."

Clint grinned and nudged Sam. He could tell this was going to be good.

Merlin continued. There was a misty look in his eyes. "I used magic to push the dice to my winning numbers. I cleaned Arthur and all the knights out. They were so angry. They couldn't puzzle out how I'd done it."

"Nice," Clint laughed. "But that's tame compared to some of the things that I've done. Tell us another."

"Well, there was the time that Gwaine and I punched our way out of a bar fight. Actually, that happened pretty often with Gwaine, but it was still funny. Sort of."

The trio whiled away the time retelling old battle stories. As time passed and stories were shared, Merlin became more and more subdued. He realized just how much time had passed since Arthur and the knights had died.

And the world had moved without them. Merlin had as well, to a certain degree. But there was a part of him that was always thinking about his oldest friends. Merlin's breath came slow as he thought about it, and his eyes were downcast.

Sam noticed. "You okay? What's up?"

Merlin shrugged, biting his lip. "Ah, it's nothing, really. Just… remembering old friends."

Sam nodded. "Yeah," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I get that. I'm a veteran. It's probably harder for you. I mean you're what, almost sixteen-hundred years old? How many friends have you seen pass?"

"A lot," Merlin stated sadly. "It is hard. Watching my own back, staying solitary. I try to distract myself, but it hasn't gotten much easier. I miss them every day."

"Eww," Clint groaned. "That confession was super sappy. But, I can tell that I have to be sappy in this situation, too." Clint took a deep breath, like he was preparing himself. It was mostly for the benefit of his macho reputation, though, because he had three kids. He knew how and when to be sappy.

"You don't have to watch your own back anymore. We know who you are. We're your team, even if it's not official. We've got your back."

* * *

 ***I know this is a bit out of character for Nat, but I decided that I wanted her to be a bit more vulnerable.**

 **Aww. Bonding time with Merlin and Clint and Sam. I did like that part.**

 **I think I might hate this chapter. What you guys think?**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	16. Chapter 16

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **I enjoyed this one.**

* * *

 _Week two at Avengers Tower_

Merlin groaned as he wiped pond water from his eyes. That mission had been a total failure. He had discovered a possible lead on the three figures he had seen in his vision. Iron Man, Hawkeye and Falcon had accompanied him to Scotland to check it out. Cap, Thor, Vision, Wanda and Natasha had elected to follow a lead on Bruce's whereabouts instead.

Merlin's goal in Scotland had been purely reconnaissance. If he had found his three targets, he would've waited to call in all of the Avengers, just in case. Merlin rather liked being alive, and he suspected that the others did as well.

Merlin had been using special satellite energy-scanning technology that he and Tony had tweaked to search for magical hotspots. Merlin knew the difference between a natural hotspot, like the Lake of Avalon, and something alive, such as a magical creature. Or _group_ of magical creatures.

He and Tony had set specific search parameters, but they still came up with more than 300 different hotspots. Merlin had wanted to bang his head on the table. There was only so much you could do when using new, magic-searching technology, even when it came from a genius, and the most magical person in the universe.

Merlin had decided to visit the first place that had come up. Scotland. Merlin liked Scotland. He had a house there. After this visit, though, Merlin had decided that he didn't want to see another Scottish pond anytime soon. He was even debating whether or not to fill in the pond at his Scotland residence.

The group had taken the Quin-Jet, discreetly landing in a forest clearing half a mile from the hotspot's origin. They had emerged from the woods into a large, grassy field. There were worked up patches of mud marked by large hoof prints. A cow pasture.

Merlin examined the little tablet fastened to his wrist, checking the energy readings. He also poked his magic around the area, feeling for anything out of place. He found it in a large pond, filled with gobs of slimy green scum.

Tony had stared disappointedly into the water. "I was expecting something way cooler than this," he mumbled. "Maybe a fancy hideout or palace. You know, something... evil-looking. Do you think there's a secret tunnel in the pond?"

"Maybe you should dive in there and check," Sam muttered. He wasn't very happy. He didn't like humidity. Or mud. And there was lots of humidity. And lots of mud. Somehow mud had gotten into his boots, and he was not a happy camper.

Clint jabbed Sam with an elbow. "Shut up and quit whining," he hissed. "We're on a mission. This is serious."

Merlin knelt next to the pond, leaning close to the water, but careful not to touch. "This is definitely the source of the magical energy," he murmured. "But it only seems strange, not exactly evil. I doubt it's what we're looking for. But we should still check. And sorry Tony, no secret tunnel. My magic can feel that much."

Tony huffed. He had a thing for secret tunnels.

Clint nocked an arrow as Merlin stood up, grabbing a small pebble on his way. Merlin moved away from the pond, skipping over a patch of gooey mud. When he was just over five feet away, Merlin stopped and tossed the stone into the pool of slimy water. It landed in the water with a quiet plop.

Nothing happened.

"A trap?" Tony ventured, arms tense and repulsors ready.

Merlin shrugged. He cupped his hand together, gathering a ball of magical energy. Merlin glanced at his companions to make sure they were prepared, and lobbed the energy ball into the pond. As it touched the water, and a shining crackle of electricity spread from the point of contact, rippling over the entire pond.

There was a moment of calm. Then the storm came.

The pond seemed to explode, pond scum flying into the air. Indistinct, motorcycle-sized figures formed of murky water and greenish mud emerged from the explosion of water. The odd-dozen figures were so distorted and deformed that Merlin couldn't even tell what they were.

An arrow appeared in what Merlin guessed what was the head, but the creature simply smacked it away with a lumpy limb. A repulsor blast from Iron Man's gauntlets boiled away some of the water on one of the creatures, leaving dry, cracked clay. A well-placed kick from Falcon had the creature minus one leg.

Merlin blasted another with lighting. It was strange to be fighting so openly with his magic. He didn't have as much opportunity for combat magic as he used to have. It was possible that he was a tiny bit out of practice, which wasn't to say that he wasn't 100% competent in any fight, of course. Just a bit shocked at how much adrenaline could be pumped into his bloodstream in so short an amount of time.

It took the group only a few minutes to dispose of the creatures, but by then, all of them had been thrown into the pond at least once. Luckily, no cleanup was necessary, as the creatures simply dissolved into piles of mid and dirt when they were chopped into small enough pieces.

Now Merlin, Tony, Sam and Clint were back on the Quin-Jet. Tony was trying to clean mud out of his suit's gauntlets. Falcon was grumbling about how wings weren't supposed to get wet, and Clint was dumping mud and water out of his quiver. Merlin was wiping mud from his face and pond scum from his hair. It slapped wetly onto the floor of the Quin-Jet.

Merlin contemplated the mud on his fingers. He thought of another time that he had been covered with mud. The memory was foggy, but it was there. Merlin had been under the control of Morgana then, and he had been tasked with killing Arthur. Thank goodness he hadn't succeeded. That would've been awkward explaining to everyone.

Merlin was pulled from his thoughts by Tony's annoyed voice. "What _were_ those things?" he asked, sighing and wiping mud from his disassembled gauntlet. "Mud monsters? Water demons?"

Merlin shrugged. "How should I know?"

Sam frowned. "Aren't you Mister Magic Man?" he asked. "You're super old. Haven't you learned about magic creatures?"

Merlin grimaced. "Well," he muttered, "they could be anything; disgruntled nymphs, deformed kelpies, or just plain, old, angry pond scum demons. There're hundreds, _thousands_ , of different kinds of magical creatures. Not to mention the interspecial breeding, which we do _not_ need to go into. It's much too hard to keep track of so many different creatures. Sorry that was such a mess, lads. Better luck next time."

* * *

 _Week three and a half at Avengers Tower_

Merlin was nursing a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. Wanda watched interestedly from her place at the kitchen table. Merlin appeared to be sulking. Wanda suspected that it had something to do with his last mission. She had accompanied him this time, along with Thor, Steve and Vision. They'd come home desperate for calamine lotion to ease the symptoms of their poison ivy. Sam, Tony, and Clint had volunteered to help Nat look for Bruce.

Natasha was getting frantic, even though she hid it impossibly well. The only reason Wanda knew, was because Natasha had invited her to the spa. They'd blabbed over stupid things while getting massages and facials, but Nat had nearly had a breakdown while they were in the sauna.

Wanda had been surprised to say the least.

Natasha didn't open herself on the best of days. Now here she was, in a sauna, switching between angry ranting and curling up into a ball. She must've really cared about Bruce. Natasha had told Wanda how nice it was to have another girl on the team. Nat had said that the boys were great fun, but she needed someone who could see this side of her and not laugh their stupid, idiotic, boyish heads off.

Wanda had smiled and nodded. It was nice to have a confidant.

Now, as she contemplated the brooding man before her, she wondered if that same _confidant_ thing could apply hear. Wanda had never met someone with powers similar to hers before. Vision had his Mind Stone, sure, and he really was wonderful, but it wasn't quite the same.

If Wanda admitted it, she was still slightly nervous about being around Merlin. Not because he scared her anymore, though. Merlin was actually more of a goofball than Wanda ever would've guessed. She was nervous being around Merlin because she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of someone who seemed so amazing and powerful.

She wanted to have Merlin as a friend, someone she could confide in, talk with.

So Wanda sucked in a breath, and stood up, moving around the couch and plopping down next to Merlin. Merlin moodily took a bite of his ice cream. "Hello," he mumbled around his full mouth.

"Hi." Wanda idly scratched the back of her hand. Stupid poison ivy. "I was just wondering if you were all right," she asked nervously. "You looked... aggravated. Is there anything that I can help with?"

Merlin smiled wanly. "Oh, no… just a bit upset about these missions and this whole mess in general. I can't help feeling that I'm missing something huge. Something obvious. Something about it seems familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it. Sorry about the poison ivy, by the way."

Wanda waved aside the apology and frowned. "Perhaps you could explain it, get your thoughts out of your head. It works for me. I used to talk with Pietro late into the night. It made things a little bit better."

Merlin pursed his lips and turned fully to look at Wanda, licking off his spoon. "Thing is, I'm not sure that I _can_ explain it. It's more of a bad feeling than anything else." Merlin smirked. "Arthur always used to tease me about my _funny feelings_."

Wanda tilted her head to the side. "You say you get bad feelings? Does your magic react to bad situations?"

"Sometimes. My magic was instinctive as a child."

Now that was interesting to Wanda. She could feel her reservoir of power whenever she called for it, but usually not before. It was like a bubbling pool of energy in the back of her mind. The reservoir could be drained, but it seemed to grow deeper when she exerted herself. Like how exercise makes muscles stronger.

Her powers were ready and waiting when she called, but silent in her mind when she wasn't using it. Sometimes, Wanda could feel a buzz through her body if her emotions were high. Wanda wasn't sure if that buzz depleted her powers, or strengthened them.

Wanda's magic, while it was a part of her, hadn't always been there, or at least, it hadn't always been accessible. Instinct and magic were hard to mix for Wanda. Her powers required concentration and intent. Merlin's appeared to bend to his will before he even knew what his will was. Wanda wondered if it could be taught.

"I can see that you find that idea intriguing." Merlin chuckled as Wanda snapped out of her thoughts. "Do you constantly feel your power, or is it more of a tickle in the back of your mind? You know that it's there, but it's not always flowing through you?"

Wanda nodded thoughtfully. "That's an accurate way to describe it," she said. Wanda picked at a fingernail, trying to act casual. "Do you think instinctive powers can be taught?"

Merlin grinned. "There's only one way to find out."

* * *

Wanda had led Merlin to her favorite place in the tower; the rooftop greenhouse. The greenhouse was large and airy, filled with the scents of rich dirt and healthy plants. Wanda reverently touched a bushy plant with large, oval-shaped leaves. She bent one of the leaves, releasing the cool scent of mint into the air.

"Pietro loved mint," she explained. "He loved the smell."

Merlin glanced approvingly around. "This place is perfect," he said. "Is there a place to sit?"

Wanda sat crossed-legged on the cool concrete floor. "Is this all right?" she grinned. "Or are you so old that your bones are falling to pieces?"

Merlin chuckled and sat upon the floor, facing Wanda. "I can be old, my dear Wanda, which, I must admit, is not very fun. I like being young much better. It's much more enjoyable. Much easier to move about. Being old is hard work."

Wanda giggled. "So how are you going to teach me something that's supposed to be instinctive?"

Merlin smiled. "I believe that anything can become instinctive, with enough work. Now, I want you to close your eyes, and concentrate on spreading your power to every part of your body, all the way to your fingers and toes. Think about what you love, what make you Wanda Maximoff. Hold it for as long as you can. And don't forget to breath. That's rather important."

* * *

 _Week four at Avengers Tower_

Merlin couldn't even think about the latest mission. The bakery in Italy… it had been horrible. Choking clouds of flour, pools of slippery oil on the floor, ending up in a dog-pile, Merlin being crushed beneath Steve, and Thor, and the freaking Iron Man armor! That had not been fun.

Not to mention that the cookies had contained way too much salt, and the muffins were drier than the Sahara desert. Merlin would never look at bakeries the same way again.

* * *

 _Week seven at Avengers tower_

Merlin was getting so fed up with these stupid, stupid, _stupid_ , missions. Thirty-four failed missions. Thirty-four cases of humiliation, pain, and unnecessary fights. This was so stupid.

Merlin ached. He needed a long, long bath. He wanted to nurse his many bruises and the tiny teeth marks covering his arms. Merlin ran a scratched, bleeding hand through his hair. His hand came away with pieces of his own silky black hair, and greasy clumps of short, wiry brown fur.

Merlin shuddered. Soap. He wanted soap, right now. Who knew where those rabid little monkey-beasts had been?

* * *

 _Week ten at Avengers tower_

Merlin had just gotten back from his sixty-third recon mission. He was so done with this. He was tense all the time. The Avengers were as well. Merlin would see them at odd hours, drinking coffee, or reading books on martial arts. Natasha seemed to be losing hope of finding Bruce. It showed up in how snappy she was. Of course, her bad mood probably also had something to do with the dreaded fight that everyone was sure was in the near future.

Any day now, the three figures would attack. Merlin had trouble sleeping. Most days, he would stay up all night, staring out the window, with the news channel on, watching and listening for the slightest sign of trouble.

None came.

* * *

 _Week fifteen at Avengers tower_

Merlin was actually beginning to doubt the validity of his own vision. He knew that the Avengers had begun to doubt ages ago. Not because they hadn't become great friends, but mostly because Merlin seemed to be gaining a scary obsession with cracking the mystery.

Wanda and Tony had sat down with Merlin, discussing every tiny, minute, itty-bitty detail of Merlin's vision. Nothing had come from it.

In other news, Wanda now had the ability to use her magic to search for things, like Merlin could. She still struggled to hold it for long distances or long periods of time, but she was getting better.

Tony had truly taken Merlin into his heart… and his lab. Merlin, from years of experience knew, at least a little, about pretty much everything. Merlin had spent his many empty years learning and discovering. Merlin enjoyed robotics. He enjoyed chemistry. He enjoyed physics. Merlin enjoyed… pretty much everything. Learning new things was what had kept Merlin sane over the past hundreds of years.

Tony would spend hours with Merlin in the labs, talking science talk and tinkering with random things. They'd built a chicken robot that laid boiled eggs. Merlin had ignored the ludicrousness of it, simply because it had taken his mind off his stupid missions. The science babble made Steve and Sam's eyes cross. Thor was surprisingly knowledgeable about some areas of science. His girlfriend, Jane Foster, who'd come to visit several times, had also enjoyed the science talk.

Clint also had a good grasp of science in general. Clint had disappeared from the tower almost every weekend without fail. Merlin still hadn't been told what he did, but he had begun to suspect that Clint was in a relationship, perhaps even had a wife and children. He'd seen lipstick smeared on Clint's cheek, and a smudged, paint-y handprint on his pants.

Vision and Merlin enjoyed sparring with each other, and playing intense games of chess. They had a running scoreboard of wins. Currently, they were tied.

Sam and Merlin liked to play games, laser tag, Mario Kart, and Monopoly included. They also liked setting up elaborate pranks and booby-traps for the others. They'd had to hide out in a dingy old sandwich shop for six hours, because Tony had been so angry at the _Hello Kitty_ graffiti on his Iron Man armor.

Steve and Merlin liked to draw together. Merlin was good, but Steve was better, capturing perfect likenesses. He'd had Merlin describe Arthur and the knights to him, in great detail. The end result had been Merlin staring for hours at a piece of paper. Steve had felt guilty for eliciting such a reaction, but Merlin had assured him that it was fine.

Thor would exchange stories with Merlin. They would regale each other with stories of past years, battle tales and the such. They would eat Pop Tarts and chat about magic and life.

Merlin and the Avengers had become a team, really and truly.

* * *

 _Week twenty-three at Avengers tower_

Merlin was alone this time. The Avengers were discussing something about a press conference that they all had to attend. Usually at least one of them would accompany him. Merlin had assured them that he would be fine alone, he had been fine alone for hundreds of years, for heaven's sake, but they'd insisted that he at least wear a comm.

Merlin now fingered the piece of plastic in his ear. This was his last recon mission. He'd promised Wanda. The Avengers had been trying to get him to drop the matter for a month, telling him if something was going to happen, it would've happened by then, or they would've found something. Merlin was just too stubborn to admit defeat. But, finally, Merlin had caved.

It had been nearly three months since the _two months hence we'll destroy the world_ deadline. And nothing had happened. Apparently the vision had been a false alarm, perhaps just a figment of Merlin's imagination.

It had felt so real! But alas, Merlin knew that he was by no means perfect. There was a chance that he'd made a mistake. He'd been recovering from a bullet wound, broken ribs, and suppressed magic. There was a very high chance that he'd made a mistake.

But Merlin's paranoia would not shut up.

So Merlin was heading to California, for one last recon mission. Lake Tahoe, if he remembered correctly (which he did).

Merlin had borrowed the Quin-Jet. He could've transported himself there using magic, but things could get complicated if someone saw him. Not to mention that magical jet-lag sucked.

Lake Tahoe was a gorgeous crystalline blue. The day was clear, but cool. Merlin landed the jet on a clear beach, the rotors throwing up sand.

Merlin's booted feet sank into the sand as he walked. Merlin expanded his magic around him, feeling the earth. He really hoped that this wasn't another thing with water demons. He'd almost drowned three times, not to mention the times that one of the Avengers had almost drowned.

That was another reason Merlin was quitting his missions, at least, quitting asking, or expecting the Avengers to come with him. Many of them had almost died while on one or another of his stupid little quests.

Something still seemed off about the whole thing, which was the only reason for this last trip.

The water lapped at Merlin's toes. He folded his arms and glared out at the water, letting his magic search for something, anything.

It was twelve minutes and twenty-three seconds before he found something. It was just a twinge, but it was enough. Merlin turned toward the trees, tramping back over the sand. Merlin ducked under twisted branches and crunched over pine needles and granite sand.

He hiked into a patch of woods which seemed slightly darker, and definitely more sinister than the other wooded areas. The air seemed thick, humming with magic. The magic itself was odd, somehow familiar to Merlin, and unfamiliar, but laced with the magic of the Old Religion.

Merlin pushed aside a dead branch, wincing at the crack as it broke and hit the ground. He pushed through dense underbrush, and emerged, quite suddenly, into a small, dim clearing. In the center of the sandy clearing, sat a rickety-looking building, long and low, probably fifty feet long and twenty feet wide. It was constructed of long wooden slats, roughly nailed together, with holes badly patched.

Merlin could hear faint voices. He muttered a spell under his breath, bending the lights rays around his body, rendering himself invisible. He crept carefully toward the shack, careful to keep quiet.

Merlin peeked through one of the holes, moving around the building until he saw something move. The light in the shack was dim, but not dark. Two people were talking, one lounging in a large, wooden, throne-like chair, the other pacing.

The pacing figure was a man, tall and lean, wearing a long coat, and boots. He had long black hair, slicked down, and angular features. The figure in the chair was woman. And the sight of that woman chilled Merlin's blood.

He fumbled for his pocket, yanking out a Stark-Tech phone that he had built with the help of Tony to better withstand unplanned energy pulses. Merlin rumbled, almost dropping the phone. He clicked the video button, and held it to the cracks of the building.

The woman in the chair was talking. "I'm tired of this horrid place," she snapped, voice high and cold. "We've been here for months. Have you finally finished your planning?"

"Oh, yes," the man said. Merlin could almost hear the grin in his voice. "We've finished planning. That team of arrogant fools and their new little friend will be gone before the month is out."

Merlin ended the video and feverishly sent it to Tony. _I found them._

"So your plan is ready to be set in motion?" the woman asked, flicking black hair over her shoulder.

"It already has been set in motion. Right now, in fact. She's already in position."

The triumphant glow in Merlin faded. A chill went up his spine. _Uh-oh_.

There was a blinding pain in the back of Merlin's head and an odd, painful tightening at the back of his neck, and then he couldn't feel anything.

* * *

 **I had so many reviews for the last chapter! Thank you guys! Thanks for the follows and favorites as well!**

 **Thanks again for reviewing. Fist bump! BADA-LADA-LADA-LA!**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	17. Chapter 17

Clint smiled for the cameras, but inside, he was fuming. He hated press conferences. They were _so_ boring. He always ended up sore because Natasha would elbow him to make sure he stayed awake. Everyone else seemed to love the press conferences, or least they didn't care enough to make a fuss. Especially Tony.

Tony was the king of suave. He could have the press eating out of his hand at the drop of a hat. Clint mostly stayed quiet at the press conferences. Right now, he'd even rather be on Merlin's reconnaissance mission. But this conference, for some reason that Clint hadn't bothered to find out, had to have _all_ the Avengers in attendance.

Merlin's recon missions had gotten old pretty quickly. Sure they made great stories, but it was tiring, going out every other day or so. Even SHIELD gave their agents at least two days between missions, unless there was an emergency.

Clint had been wondering if Merlin's vision had just been an exhaustion-induced nightmare. It was possible. The two-month limit had passed by a long time ago. Every mission Merlin had organized had been a complete disaster. Clint was very glad that Merlin had promised to drop the matter after this last mission.

Merlin was now almost a member of the team. Clint knew Merlin planned on moving back to one of his houses the next Saturday. Merlin had insisted that, while he had enjoyed his time with the Avengers, and planned to visit, whether they liked it or not, he preferred to stay out of the spotlight.

Merlin had already gotten a lot of media attention, people wondering who the Avengers' new buddy was. Somehow, almost like magic, Merlin had managed to avoid any and all pictures. Clint had bet Merlin a hundred bucks it was impossible, even with magic, to avoid the paparazzi altogether for more than three months.

Clint's wallet was now one hundred bucks lighter.

But other than the press conferences, all was right with the world. Clint was with his team, his other family. And the press conference only had ten minutes left. Clint shifted in his seat. And shifted again. He received a sharp elbow from Natasha. He thought about giving her an elbow back, but he decided that he didn't want to be murdered horribly in his sleep.

Clint was bored. There was no getting around it.

Time seemed to have ground to a halt. Until he heard a phone buzz. Glancing to his left, Clint saw Tony fish his wafer-thin phone out of his pocket. Tony tapped the screen a few times. A frown formed on his face. Tony unobtrusively peeked at his watch.

"What's up?" Clint mouthed, leaning as far as he dared over Natasha.

Tony tapped his phone again. Clint's phone vibrated. He pulled it out and read the message Tony had sent.

 _Merlin found something. Sent a vid. Discuss it at Tower._

Clint turned off his phone. Now he really wanted this stupid conference over with. Still eight more minutes….

* * *

As soon as Clint stepped into the armored limo, he plopped himself next to Tony. "Show me this video," he demanded.

Tony shook his head stiffly. "We'd better wait until the tower, so the whole team can see it at once."

Clint frowned. "I hate you."

"Love you too, Barton!"

The ten minute drive to the tower was going to take forever.

* * *

The team gathered in the living room, still dressed in their formal wear. They wanted to hear the news _now_.

Tony flicked his phone toward the TV. A shaky video played. In the video, two people argued in what appeared to be a crumbling wooden building. One lounged in a chair, the other was standing.

The figure in the chair spoke. It was a woman's voice, sharp and clear. _I'm tired of this horrid place. We've been here for months. Have you finally finished your planning?_

 _Oh, yes,_ the other figure said, a man judging by the voice. Tony frowned. That voice was familiar. Thor had gone whiter than a sheet. The figure on the screen continued. _We've finished planning. That team of arrogant fools and their new little friend will be gone before the month is out._

The video ended abruptly, leaving the television screen black.

"Merlin took this video?" Steve asked, rubbing his chin. "Do we know where he is?"

"Not at this second," Tony said. "But I can find him. I installed trackers in all the Quin-Jets after Brucie stole one."

Natasha studied Thor. "What's wrong?" The demi-god was pale and breathing hard.

"That man," Thor said. "On the television. He…."

"Yeah, he sounded familiar," Tony said, scratching his carefully trimmed goatee. "I can't place him, but… oh…. Oh no."

Thor dragged a hand down his face. "Loki. My brother… it appears that he lives."

Silence ruled for a whole three seconds, before curses in various languages were spat. "I thought that we were done with that egotistical maniac!" Tony hissed. "How come he keeps trying to ruin my life?"

"More lives than just yours are in danger, Tony," Steve said tiredly. "We just need to find their hideout, and take them down, before they can put this plan into action."

"Excuse me." Wanda's thick accent cut through the chaos. "Who is Loki?"

The conversation stopped. "Did you never hear about the Chituari Incident?" Steve asked. In the corner of his vision, Tony twitched, blinking away visions of wormholes and nukes. Clint winced, thinking of blue magic and thoughts not his own.

"Bits and pieces," Wanda explained, shrugging. She'd been quite a bit younger when it happened. And living in a HYDRA lab. "What does this Loki have to do with that?"

"He's Thor's adopted, megalomaniacal brother, and he planned out the Chitauri attack from beginning to end," Tony said flatly.

Wanda said nothing, just nodded. She took Vision's hand. "Who is the woman?" Vision asked. "And did not Merlin say that he witnessed three beings in his vision?"

Natasha nodded. "That's what he said. And if Loki's involved, we need to get there as soon as possible."

"Yup," Tony said, stripping off his suit jacket and flinging it onto the couch. "Loki is _not_ low-key."

"Suit up," Steve called, heading for the elevator. "Tony, figure out where Merlin is. We'll prep the Quin-Jet."

* * *

Tony stripped off his formal clothes on his way to his _Iron Closet_ , as the Avengers had dubbed it, where he kept all his suits. Tony could wear normal clothes under his armor, but it was more comfortable with his specially-made jumpsuit. Nothing rubbing in weird places. He yanked his feet into the fibrous material, wiggling his toes into the feet.

"FRIDAY, get the latest suit ready for me, will you? And track that Quin-Jet that Magic Man took." Tony swallowed water from a pre-chilled bottle.

"Already done, Boss," FRIDAY said. "Mark XVI is ready for take-off. Tracking the Quin-Jet now.

"Perfect," Tony grunted, shoving his hand into the waiting metal gauntlet. The armor crawled up his arm, forming around his body comfortably. Tony heard the hiss as the arc reactor clicked into place. It was nice not having that hunk of metal in his chest anymore. There was a sharp clank as the helmet sealed shut.

"Systems operating at one hundred percent capacity," FRIDAY's cool voice informed Tony as he took. "Merlin's Quin-Jet is currently located near Lake Tahoe, in California. I'm putting up the coordinates now."

"Good," Tony said as the coordinates flashed on the HUD. "Send 'em to Cap, too. They're following in the Quin-Jet. Let's see if we can beat them there."

* * *

The team joined on the edge of the glittering blue lake. The sun was just setting, casting long shadows over the gravel and sand of the beach.

"There's the Quin-Jet that Merlin took," Clint said, pointing with an arrow. "Let's check inside, shall we?"

The team tromped over the sand to Merlin's borrowed jet. "FRIDAY," Tony said. "Open 'er up. Let's see what we can find."

The bay doors opened. Clint clambered inside and made a quick search. "Nothing," he said, jumping back into the sand. "It's empty."

"Well then," Wanda said. "Let's follow those footprints." She pointed to a line of divots in the sand, leading to the beach, then into the trees.

"I can fly recon," Tony offered, hovering a foot or two above the sand. The heat of the repulsors left little blobs of half-formed, crude glass in the sand.

Steve shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "I have a bad feeling about this place. We should stick together." The air seemed cold and much too still. Steve rubbed his finger along the edge of his shield.

Studies Merlin had conducted had proved that vibranium was effective against magic and magical shields. Merlin had insisted on adding vibranium tips to Clint's arrows, Natasha's knives and Sam's wings. He had even designed special vibranium-capped explosives for Tony.

The team moved slowly toward the trees, desperately hoping for Merlin to pop out of the woods and tell them everything was fine. Nat led the way, picking her way through the pines, following tracks that only she could see.

Finally, she held up a fist, the signal to stop. The team halted. "There's a clearing up there," she breathed. "There's a building in the clearing. Be on the lookout. Tony, Vision, hover, be ready to shoot. Sam, you're with Wanda. Go left. Thor, go right with Cap. Clint and I will go from here."

Everyone nodded, following their various partners into the darkening trees. Tony and Vision rose into the twilight air, hovering like waiting vultures.

Steve could hear the quiet breathing of his companions through his com-link. Somewhere ahead, Steve faintly heard voices, three different ones, if his hearing was correct. Two women and a man. Accented. Loki and his companions. Steve's breath caught. This had suddenly gotten a thousand times more real.

The trees opened, giving Steve a view of the ramshackle hut. The voices seemed angry and leering. There was a muffled reply. It seemed to be a different voice, and familiar.

Steve could see his teammates closing in on the building. "Widow, check it out," Steve said, whisper just loud enough to be heard. "I think there're four people in there."

Steve continued to approach, slowly, slowly, watching as the piece of shadow that was Natasha slip up to a crack in the building. The way her body tensed, Steve could tell it was bad. She seemed to be communicating, making hand motions and nodding her head.

"Merlin." Natasha's voice was so quiet in the com-link, Steve had to wonder if he'd even heard it. "Sitting in a chair. Vibranium cuffs. Three distracted hostiles, arguing. Two females, one male. One is Loki."

Steve could almost hear his teeth creaking, with how hard he was clenching his jaw. He'd thought the trouble with Loki had been over. Thor had told them that Loki had died to save him. It looked like that wasn't the case.

"We go in all at once," Steve whispered into his com, listening carefully incase the trio in the building stopped talking. "Flight team, come through the roof. Everyone else, bust down the walls. Nat, get Merlin out so he can help us."

Quiet affirmatives could be heard, from every team member.

"Go! Now!"

Tony and Vision blasted through the roof, sending bits of rotting wood everywhere. Inside, Merlin was tied to a steel care, silvery handcuffs clipping his wrists to the edges. He was paler than normal and he looked terrified. Standing in front of him, glaring at the intruders, stood Loki, long cloak billowing, though he was without his headgear.

Beside Loki, stood two women. Both had long, dark hair, and pale skin. One of the women was rather tall. Her hair tumbled down her back in tangled curls. She had a cold, regal face, and blazing green eyes. She was clothed in an elegant black mourning gown.

The other woman wore bright burgundy. She was smaller than the other woman, but the fire in her brilliant sapphire eyes was just as bright. Her lips were a prefect shade of red. Both women were gorgeous.

Matching scowls appeared on all three hostile faces.

The Avengers burst into the shack, more holes and splinters appearing. It was a wonder the building didn't fall down. Instantly, blasts of magic, bullets, arrows and punches were flying.

"Nice to see you," Merlin grunted as Natasha picked the complicated lock on his handcuffs.

"You too," Natasha said. She dropped the cuffs to the dirt floor. "Come on. You can help."

"Wait!" Merlin croaked, voice suddenly dry. "Can I have a gun?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. There were more important things to be doing at the moment, like not dying. She pressed a pair of pistols into Merlin's pale fingers. Merlin had no idea where Natasha had been keeping them in her skintight jumpsuit. He decided that he didn't want to know.

The noise of the battle was deafening. Somehow, the three sorcerers, for the women had started throwing spells around as well as Loki, were managing to keep the Avengers back, but only just. They looked stretched to the point of breaking.

Gun shots rang out over the clamor as Merlin coolly fired the gun at the green-eyed woman. The bullets slammed against an energy shield, ricocheting, and nearly hitting Natasha. One bullet finally broke through, as the woman's energy shield was smashed to pieces by the strikes of the Avengers. The bullet skimmed the woman's side, tearing her dress, and just brushing the woman's skin.

She hissed, though how Merlin heard it above the clamor, he didn't know. Her angry green eyes met his, and darkened even further. The woman blasted a lightning ball at Merlin, then whirled, and grabbed her companions by the arms, shouting above the chaos.

There was a flash of wind and light, and the trio was gone.

The Avengers, super soldiers, demi-gods and all were panting heavily. "Who knew that three people could be so troublesome?" Clint asked, wiping dirt from his sweaty forehead.

"They're skilled sorcerers," Merlin coughed, throat dry and scratchy. "They've been practicing. At least, Morgana and Nimeuh have."

"Those are Loki's female companions?" Vision asked, brushing dirt off his cape.

Merlin nodded, dropping to his butt on the dirt. He ached, everywhere, deep into his bones. He felt dryer than a desert. Hope was trickling out of him like water out of a cracked glass.

Natasha stalked over, and stood in front of the supine Merlin. The rest of the Avengers gathered around as well.

Natasha folded her arms tightly. "Why didn't you use your magic?" she asked. "And don't even think about lying. I _will_ know."

Merlin shivered, rubbing his arms. "I…."

Tony's faceplate folded away. "Come on, man. You look like crap. Spit it out, so we can get you into medical and fix whatever those creeps might've done to you."

"There is nothing physically wrong with me," Merlin gritted out. Was this what it had felt like? It had seemed so long ago—scratch that, it was so long ago—that it had happened. He had been sure that he would never forget it.

"Nothing physically?" Sam and Clint asked at the same time. "What does that mean?"

Merlin took a deep breath. "My magic…. I can't feel it. They did something to my magic."


	18. Chapter 18

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **...I have no excuse...**

 **P.S. This goes back a little ways into chapter 17. Might want to reread that since... you know... its been almost a year since I've updated.**

* * *

Nimueh stared down coldly at the limp body in front of her. Merlin was sprawled across the dirt, partially slumped on the wooden wall. The skin on the back of his neck was red. The red splotch stood out strongly against his pale skin and black hair.

Nimueh rubbed her arms, chilled. That spell had taken a lot out of her. She still had the strength for another spell, though. She usually did. Nimueh had been the gatekeeper of Avalon, after all. The witch muttered a spell under her breath. Merlin's body dragged across the dirt, following Nimueh's quick steps.

Nimueh stepped into the hovel that she and her companions had been calling home for the past half year or so. Nimueh clicked her fingers. A chair appeared out of the air, a pair of handcuffs clanking onto the ground next to it. Another click and Merlin was slumping in the chair, handcuffs snapping shut.

The demigod Loki raised an eyebrow at the unconscious figure in the chair. "This is the one that causes so much trouble?" he sniffed. "He's pathetic."

Morgana glanced over Merlin. Dirt covered his clothes and smeared over his face. There were twigs caught in his hair. The back of his neck was bright red, almost the color of the silly bandana he wore around his neck.

Pain welled up in Morgana's chest, squeezing her hard. She had loved Merlin once. Whether it was romantic or sisterly, she couldn't say. Then he had betrayed her, lying time and again. It had been far too long. Time had dulled Morgana's feelings, but pain was always the most easily recalled.

"You administered the poison?" Morgana asked Nimueh, not bothering to look at her.

A scoff from Nimueh. "Of course," she said coldly, voice smooth. "He would kill himself trying to touch his magic, even if he does wake up. Please do remember that this venom is completely untested, and the only reason we put it into use now was to ensure that Merlin stays subdued until we kill him. Which is something we should do now, before he wakes."

Morgana shook her head. "I want to speak with him one last time."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Why must you feed your pride and lust for revenge in such a way as this?"

"He destroyed me, and everything that I loved," Morgana snapped, eyes wild. "He stole everything that was rightfully mine. I want to make sure he knows how he ripped me in two. Then I want to return the favor."

"Fine, fine," Loki snapped, waving a hand dismissively. "Do whatever you wish. It is no concern of mine, as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain."

"The Avengers will be no trouble," Morgana told Loki, turning to stare him in the eyes. "As long as we face them separately, they will not be able to stand against us."

Nimueh nodded silently. She had studied the Avengers, as they called themselves, for many months, observing their tactics, and their friendship with Merlin. Birds, the common pigeon especially, were her spies in the sprawling metropolis were the Avengers dwelt. The pigeons, while hardly capable of communicating, were seen everywhere, and as such, went unnoticed in the espionage department.

Nimueh leaned in front of Merlin, inspecting him closely. Even in sleep, his features were tense, a result of the thick, metallic poison now coursing through his magic-infused veins.

The poison was Nimueh's brain child. After observing the way vibranium had affected Merlin's magic, she had convinced Loki and Morgana to acquire a large sample. She had conducted multiple experiments, and finally had succeeded in creating a thick, metallic goo.

The poison was designed to linger in the bloodstream, spreading throughout the body, and cutting off any attempts at using magic. The vibranium mixture wasn't poisonous, per say, although in a powerful sorcerer's case, such as Merlin, it was probable that after a while, the blocking of magic could kill him.

Honestly, Nimueh didn't even care about the team that called themselves Avengers. She didn't care all that much about world domination, either. At the moment, anyway. All she cared about was revenge on Merlin. But Loki had insisted that the Avengers would be determined to live up to their name.

If they couldn't save their friends, they would definitely be sure to avenge them.

Loki studied his companions and their prisoner. The two women were curious creatures. He had heard their cries of hatred and desperation for revenge from the underworld. He had been intrigued by the power that flowed through them. Many sorcerers from ages past had only a fraction of their power and determination.

And an idea had sprung into Loki's head.

In the form of Odin, the All-Father, he had visited the goddess of the dead, Hel, and ordered her to return the two sorceresses to life. _Bringing someone so long dead back to life was impossible_ , Hel had informed Loki.

Loki had turned to leave.

 _But_ , Hel had continued, a wicked gleam in her dark eyes, _there was a way to gain the desired outcome._

Loki had smiled, the vicious smirk looking out of place on the All-Father's face. _She knows,_ Loki had thought. _She knows who I am and yet she does not care. But I should have guessed. Hel is a goddess of death and destruction._

Hel had carefully explained that she could bring the sorceresses back to life, but only a half-life, one that needed a continual well of magic to draw energy from, to replace their scattered, non-existent life force.

To a power such as Loki, that was no trouble.

And it wasn't, even though the continual draw on his magic was annoying, and exhausting, at times. His powers were limited, even though to any human sorcerer, they were still more than formidable.

Now Loki turned his attention to the pale man clipped by vibranium cuffs to the chair. Merlin, according to Nimueh and Morgana. A great power, supposedly. He didn't look like much now, sweaty, head drooping.

Humans were such fragile, weak creatures.

* * *

It took Merlin nearly seven hours to awaken. His eyes fluttered slowly open, blinking in the dim light.

He could hear voices. Angry voices. Angry, _familiar,_ voices. Merlin's tongue suddenly went dry. Something was wrong. So, so _wrong._

The feeling, nausea and giddiness fighting for attention in his brain, was so horrible that it took Merlin several minutes to identify what was wrong.

Dread coiled like a thick, heavy snake in Merlin's stomach. His limbs felt weighted down with lead.

No.

 _No._

Please, no.

 _NONONO._

 _Magic!_ Merlin's panicked thought latched onto one idea, one horrible, terrible, niggling truth.

His magic was gone. _Again._

The first time had been bad enough. Merlin was sure that he wouldn't last as long this time as he had last time.

Terror. Pure, utter terror.

Merlin's breathing was fast. He didn't even care that the angry voices had stopped for the time being. He was too busy trying to drag his mind out of the panic-induced swirl that it was in.

He felt so empty, like someone had drained all the energy right out of him.

Empty. So _empty._ It was horrible.

What had happened to him? Hot and cold battled for dominance inside Merlin, sending violent shivers through him and sweat pouring down his face.

A cold hand suddenly grabbed Merlin's chin and forced it upward, snapping Merlin out of his daze. His eyes met the green, hatred-filled eyes of the witch he had killed so many years ago.

"Morgana," Merlin croaked, voice breaking. He couldn't look away.

Morgana smirked. She stroked her cold fingers down Merlin's cheek. Merlin didn't move, petrified by horror.

"Hello, Merlin," Morgana cooed. "So wonderful to see you again after all these centuries." Morgana smiled, insanity peeking through her façade. "Do you the pain I've felt through these past years? No? I thought not. I was alone, even before I died. I want you to feel that way before we kill you."

"No."

Merlin's eyes shot up. "Nimueh?"

Nimueh smiled, cold, blue eyes shining. "Hello, Merlin," she whispered. "It's been many years since you killed me."

Merlin gulped. This was very bad.

Nimueh turned looked back at Morgana. "We're not waiting to kill him," she said, voice hard. "Otherwise he could find some way to escape."

Morgana's lips tightened. "I want him to feel the same pain that I felt. Being so alone, you don't know what to do with yourself. That's what I want him to feel."

Loki stepped forward, and Merlin's eyes snapped to him. Loki spoke. His voice was smooth and powerful. "He dies now."

Morgana's cheeks flared red, and she stalked toward Loki. "I want him to know what he did to me!"

Loki glared at her coolly. "Tell him, then, and after, we shall kill him and continue with our plans."

Nimueh moved forward as well. "Merlin is an artist when it comes to dodging death. We kill him now." From seemingly nowhere, Nimueh drew a long, curved dagger, wickedly sharp.

Morgana grabbed Nimueh's arms, long, pale fingers squeezing tight.

Nimueh leveled Morgana with a stare. "Don't touch me again, Morgana, unless you wish to lose a hand."

Merlin was near panic, helplessly watching as three megalomaniacs tried to decide when to kill him. Merlin's gaze flicked around the room, desperately searching for something, anything to help in an escape. A movement near a wall to his left caught his attention, through a small crack in the wooden wall, a flash of red hair and pale skin.

 _Natasha!_

Yes! Relief washed through Merlin. Even if the rest of the Avengers weren't here, Natasha was a huge asset in situations like this.

Merlin caught her eye. He could just see her face through the crack. She started whispering, so quietly, she was hardly doing it, but Merlin carefully read her lips.

The rest of the Avengers were here, and they were closing in. Natasha nodded slowly. They were coming in now.

Merlin ducked his head, shielding his face from the flying splinters wood. Natasha slammed through the wall and hurried to his chair. She had Merlin out of the handcuffs in less than a minute.

"Nice to see you," Merlin said as the cuffs dropped to the floor.

"You too," Natasha said, smirking. "Come on. You can help."

Merlin stood, body trembling slightly. The world felt strange and off-color. "Wait!" he called as Natasha moved to join the insanity-fest before them. "Can I have a gun?"

Natasha gave him a strange look, but said nothing as she passed him a pair of shining black pistols. The grips felt strange in Merlin's hand. He knew how to fire a gun, but he did it very rarely. Why use a gun when you could use magic?

Loki, Morgana and Nimueh were managing to keep the Avengers back, but it was a close run thing. Hopefully, with what little help Merlin could offer with the gun, they would be able to take the three into custody.

Merlin only hoped it would be enough.

Merlin steadied himself and raised his guns. He carefully aimed at Morgana. He was going to have to kill her. _Again._ Could things get much worse?

Even after everything that had happened between them, Merlin still desperately wished he could have done something different. Something to save Morgana instead of alienate her.

But he had been a coward for too long. Then it been too late.

Merlin's bullets smashed against Morgana's conjured energy field. The bullets bounced off, and Merlin grimaced as one almost hit Natasha.

Bullet shells pinged on the floor. The noise of the battle was deafening. Merlin continued peppering the energy shield with bullets, until finally, one broke through, and whizzed past Morgana. Merlin heard her gasp of pain, even over the clamor of the surrounding battle.

The sound of her pain hurt worse than he had ever imagined it would. Here, he had someone from his own youth, his own time, and he had to try and kill them.

Morgana's anger hurt too.

She conjured an electric-blue ball of lightning and hurled it at him. He was barely able to leap out of the way. Merlin nearly tripped and landed on his face. He was exhausted and terrified and so, so detached. Magic that usually connected him to everything was simply gone. The isolation was horrible.

Merlin watched in consternation as Morgana grabbed Loki and Nimueh, and shouted a spell. A funnel of wind swept the three away, and they were gone.

 _Failed again._

* * *

 **Okay, I actually have a bit of an excuse.**

 **1\. I did a pageant over the summer. Which took up all of my summer. It was fun though.**

 **2\. Life got busy. I got a job. I now take college classes.**

 **3\. Life got busier.**

 **4\. I had a ridiculous case of writer's block with these chapters. Then, I reread, and did some minor editing, and I feel better about it now.**

 **This story has nothing to do with _Thor: Ragnarok_. Believe it or not, I actually had the idea for Hel to come in before those trailers came out.**

 **Also, I do feel really guilty about leaving this hanging for almost a year. I'm so sorry.**

 **Anyway, enjoy. P.S. Please forgive me. And maybe leave a review... please?**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	19. Chapter 19

**Still no own.**

* * *

"Your magic is gone?" Clint asked. "Like, _gone,_ gone?"

"Yes, you idiot," Merlin snapped, temper higher than usual. "It's gone. I have nothing! _Nothing._ Not to mention that I feel like my insides want to be my outsides."

The group was sprawled in various positions on the Quin-Jet, heading back to Avengers Tower in New York. Wanda was huddled close to Merlin, fingertips pulsing with red energy as she trailed them along Merlin's cold fingers.

Wanda sat back and frowned, powers flickering away.

"I cannot find anything," she said sadly. "There is nothing there to find, or if there is, it is buried too deep for me to discover."

Merlin gulped, trying to keep from puking. This was pretty much the worst possible news he could get. He turned to Tony. "Did anything come up on those scans?"

Tony was frowning, staring intently at a tablet. "There seems to be a heavy substance in your bloodstream…. It's… oh crap. It's vibranium. That's why your magic is one the fritz. The vibranium is basically being absorbed by your body. If we don't get it out soon, it might kill you. The energy readings FRIDAY can usually get off you are gone. And she says your vital signs are a little wack, too."

"Is there a way to get it out?" Merlin asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tony frowned, still tapping at his tablet. "I honestly don't know. I doubt this kind of poison has ever been used before. We could try treatments for heavy metal poisoning. I'm not sure. Vibranium isn't exactly a common household item. We'll do a few tests and figure something out. I am a genius after all."

Merlin shook his head and stood, and swayed slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Merlin put his arms out to steady himself. "Well, no helping it now. It happened, and there isn't anything I can do to fix it right now. What we can work on doing is finding Loki, Morgana and Nimueh, preferably before they try to kill all of us."

* * *

 _The next day_

The Assemble call blared through the tower.

"We've got alerts coming from all over the globe!" Natasha cried, hunching over her tablet, pressing a finger against her com. "SHIELD's agents say that they're like zombies, but stronger, faster, and bigger _._ They want us to come in!"

The team gathered in the equipment locker, throwing gear into packs and strapping on weapons. "Where?" Steve asked, strapping his helmet tightly.

"We've got an alert in Berlin, another in Asia, one in Brazil, one in Iceland, Britain, Arizona. They're everywhere, and we don't even know what they are."

Merlin, who had just entered the room, hurried to Natasha. "Do we have a picture?"

Natasha flipped the screen around to show him.

Merlin's face, already pale and sweaty from the high fever he was nursing, turned even whiter. It had only been yesterday when the team had returned to the tower from rescuing Merlin.

The creature on the screen was horrifying. Pale, ragged skin stretched over a cracked skull. Hollow eye sockets and smoke rising from its skin. The thing was humanoid, but nearly eight feet tall. The creature's body was composed of rotting, smoky, black flesh, but rippling with muscles. The creature wielded a sword that must've been six feet long. The sword appeared to be crafted from ice.

"Any idea what they are?" Natasha asked, staring at Merlin hard.

"They're creatures of Norse Mythology. But, you know, they're not really myths. They're basically zombies. They're called _draugr,_ the dishonorable dead."

"What?" Clint hurried into the equipment locker, looking annoyed. "Are you freakin' kidding me? A zombie apocalypse? I thought my life couldn't get any weirder."

"You jinxed it Bird Boy," Tony's voice came over the comm. "You jinxed yourself, bigtime. Never say things like that. Or even think them, really. Okay, business. I'm ready to fly. Do we have a plan? We can't just focus on one area. We're gonna have to split up."

Cap, who had just rushed into the room, pointed to Clint. "Get your incendiary arrows, fire, explosives, that kind of thing. I doubt much else will work on these. Tony, take all the firepower you got. We'll do this in pairs. Wanda and Vision, Natasha and Tony, Sam with me, and Thor with Clint. Pick a spot on the map and move out. The army is on their way to keep things contained."

Merlin stared, detached, as his friends prepared for battle. He was useless without his magic, and the vibranium in his bloodstream was killing him. He could feel it.

Tony and Wanda knelt in front of Merlin, both prepped for battle. "You'll have to stay here," Tony told Merlin. "You'll die if you try to help. My R&D department are working on a cure for that vibranium."

Merlin nodded. "Good luck," he mumbled tiredly. Wanda squeezed his hand, smiled tightly, then the duo disappeared, leaving Merlin alone.

* * *

Clint and Thor struggled against hordes of zombies in Quebec.

Wanda and Vision blasted monsters to pieces in Germany.

Natasha and Tony fought undead monsters in Brazil.

Thor and Cap battled demons in Oregon.

The army, policemen, firemen, armed civilians, and SHIELD agents, fought to protect their homes and lives.

They were all failing.

There were simply too many of the undead to defeat.

And all the while, Merlin watched, feeling as if he were being torn in two while the world burned.

The three powers behind the destruction watched, laughing as fire and death was reaped upon the earth.

* * *

Merlin felt sick as he watched the video feeds. People were dying. Fires were burning. His friends were quickly becoming exhausted, injuries slowing them down.

Merlin also felt sick because of the vibranium poison in his veins. For two days, the world had been fighting the _draugr_. Two days.

Tony's R&D department hadn't made any headway on removing the vibranium from Merlin's body, even with Merlin's help.

It was just before midnight during the night of the second day, when Merlin decided he couldn't stand it any longer.

He staggered around the tower, gathering supplies. He stuffed a supply of Wanda's energy gel into his pockets. He looked up the start codes for the last Quin-jet in the basement. He yanked on a suit of body armor, trying not to puke when the movements made his head spin.

Merlin sat in the pilot seat of the Quin-jet. "FRIDAY?" he called, wincing at his rough voice.

"Yes, Mr. Merlin?"

"Can you fly this thing to Europe? Fast as possible?"

"Of course, Mr. Merlin. Do you have coordinates for the location you want to visit?"

Merlin nodded and spouted them off for FRIDAY. The Quin-jet's engines hummed as Merlin took off.

* * *

 **Okay, yeah, short. But that's where it felt natural to end.**

 **Review, maybe. Thanks!**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	20. Chapter 20

Even with the Avengers were spread across the globe, they still kept in contact through their comm units, even though there wasn't much to say.

Clint was now officially stuck to long range sniping with a sniper rifle. He'd gotten his arm broken the day before.

Sam's wings were barely at a functional level.

Cap's shoulders ached, one from the constant hurling of his shield, the other, because he had dislocated it (and his knee) earlier. The pain was constant, and exhausting.

Natasha lay on a bed, breathing as deeply as her three broken ribs would allow. The blow to the head she'd taken hadn't helped much either.

Tony's suit was breaking down, full of dents, and peppered with shrapnel.

Vision was constantly blazing monsters, but it seemed to do little among the hordes.

Wanda was nearly delirious, but still, she struggled to protect the civilians.

Thor had been smashed into the dirt several times, and there was a slice above his eyebrow dripping blood into his eyes.

All in all, the Avengers, and the world, was losing.

There was no fixed point where the _draugr_ were originating. They just crawled out of the dirt wherever the heck they felt like. The creatures were incredibly tough, withstanding a lot of damage before they fell to pieces, and they didn't seem to get tired, although they were much slower during the day than at night.

The Avengers were losing all hope that they could win this war. It seemed an endless battle. Unless someone came up with a miracle, the world was going to die.

Merlin had somehow come up with a miracle. Now the only question was whether or not he could actually do it.

He was in Europe, standing beside the Lake of Avalon. Actually, it was more like he was swaying. Merlin was exhausted, the poison in his veins burning through him.

The lake was peaceful, starlight reflecting off the water. It was a strange contrast against the chaos in the rest of the world. Merlin stared out at the water. It was very likely he would die sometime in the nest twenty-four hours. He was glad that he could visit this special place one last time.

Merlin trudged forward into the dark ripples. The water was cold, slowly soaking through his body armor. It made Merlin shiver even more than he already was.

When the water was thigh deep, Merlin sank to his knees, head drooping with exhaustion. He let his hands float across the surface of the water, enjoying the cool feel of it. Merlin's whole body was tingling.

Merlin concentrated on the tingling, and took a deep breath. This was going to suck. Big time.

Merlin sat in the water for two pain-filled hours, shoving his consciousness at the block covering his magic.

It hurt. It hurt worse than anything Merlin had ever felt, stinging, and burning like fire. Merlin wondered if this was what it felt like to be burned at the stake.

The vibranium block around his magic was the most stubborn thing Merlin had ever felt. It moved like a liquid, slipping around his probes, and was solid as steel when Merlin tried to break through it was force.

He was gasping and sweating, and he could feel bile bubbling in the back of his throat, when somehow, impossibly, Merlin felt a tiny sliver of his consciousness touch his magic. It was only a pinprick, but it would have to be enough. There was no second chance in this catastrophe.

Merlin dragged at the speck of magic, painfully forcing it to bend to his will.

Merlin sent his tiny magical probe into the waters of the lake he was sitting in, searching. He breathed a sigh of relief when the magic of Avalon responded, softly brushing against him, soothing a portion of his pain.

A plume of bright power made Merlin blink in the brightening dawn. A figure stepped out of a rift in the light, and strode toward Merlin.

Freya pulled Merlin's forehead against her own and smiled. "My hero," she said, giving him a gentle kiss.

"Freya," Merlin murmured, closing his eyes and smiling. "I love you."

"And I you," Freya told him. "But we do not have the time right now. Avalon is opening, but your reinforcements need a constant well of magic to survive, much like Nimeuh and Morgana. Do you have the strength for this?"

Merlin nodded resolutely. "I must, or the world will die. Send them out."

Freya kissed him one last time, then faded away.

One figure tumbled out of the rift, unceremoniously splashing into the lake. Merlin grinned at the colorful curses coming from the voice that he missed oh, so much.

"Merlin!"

It was Arthur's shout, one born of habits that he hadn't cared to break.

Arthur was clothed in armor, but not the metal plate armor or even chainmail of Camelot; instead, he was outfitted much like Merlin, with heavy black body armor and a helmet, although Excalibur was sheathed across his back.

Arthur was still as regal as ever.

Arthur hurried forward, pulling Merlin from his position in the water. Arthur embraced Merlin, joyful laughter spilling from his mouth.

"Merlin!" Arthur cried, releasing Merlin and clasping his shoulders.

Merlin grinned deliriously through his pain. This might just be the best moment of his life.

Arthur glanced Merlin over. "Heavens Merlin!" Arthur cried, helping Merlin toward the lake's shore. "What happened?"

Merlin smiled tiredly. "A problem with magic," he rasped. "One that you and I have to fix."

Merlin explained everything that had happened with the Avengers as Arthur and Merlin tromped back toward the Quin-jet. He explained about SHIELD's paranoia, the fights with the Avengers, the triumphs, and finally, the last few days.

"Morgana, Nimueh, _and_ an insane god?" Arthur cursed. "That can't be good."

"Well," Merlin said, "Considering that the world is being overrun with undead warriors, it definitely isn't good. Not to mention the fact that I can't even access my magic at the moment."

"That is a problem," Arthur said, slicing through the thick brush with his sword. "How are we going to fix this?"

"The Avengers are trying to keep the damage contained," Merlin explained, panting, sweat slicking his face. "We have to find Morgana and her friends and destroy them. We'll probably have to lure them out of hiding by using me as bait. Otherwise, they'll just wait until everyone is dead, then casually take over the world."

"We can't use you as bait!" Arthur protested. "Look at you. Even if you have muscled up a bit, they'd still crush you like a twig without you're magic. That's a terrible idea! Now where is this 'Quin-jet' that you spoke of?"

"It should be just there," Merlin said, pointing to the black hull of the Quin-jet, glittering darkly through the trees.

"What the hell is that?" Arthur squawked, stopping short, forcing Merlin to stop as well.

"That," Merlin said, grinning, "is the future."

* * *

The King of Camelot was very uncomfortable in the air. One look out the Quin-jet's window had Arthur turning white. Arthur and Merlin were buckled tightly into the Quin-jet's pilot and co-pilot seats. Merlin was as relaxed as he could be while his head felt like it was about to implode, but Arthur had a death grip on all the handles he could reach.

"Are we almost there?" Arthur gritted out.

Merlin glanced back from his spot in the pilot's chair. "Another few minutes," Merlin told his companions. "We'll be there soon."

"Good," Arthur growled tightly. "Because I feel like stabbing something right now."

"You get used to things such as this," Merlin told Arthur, trying to keep the exhausted tremor out of his voice. "This day in age is very strange. You'll see."

* * *

Stonehenge was beautiful, but to the duo walking to its center, it seemed haunted.

"Stonehenge is one of the places where the Asgardian's dimensional bridge, the Bifrost, has touched down," Merlin said, leaning heavily on his companion as the pair moved into the center of the circle of stones. "The magical energy here is strong enough to call to Morgana, Nimueh, and Loki."

Merlin sat on the grass, panting. The pull of sustaining Arthur's half-life while his magic was being blocked with vibranium was setting his head spinning, and eyes blurry. "I've called the Avengers," Merlin mumbled. "They should be here just in time. The army can take care of any remaing _draugr_."

"Are you sure that you'll be all right, Merlin?" Arthur asked, crouching in front of Merlin.

"Oh, yeah," Merlin said, flippantly waving a hand. "I've got this. I'll be fine. Now get out of here. I'm going to call for them."

"I know that you're skilled, Merlin," Arthur said. "But are you sure that you can do this?"

Merlin's cobalt blue eyes met Arthur's sky-colored ones. "Honestly?" Merlin asked. "No. I have no idea if I'll be able to do this. But if we fail, the world dies. We have to win."

Arthur studied Merlin for a few seconds, then smiled sadly, nodded, and hurried back to the Quin-jet to have FRIDAY ready the Quin-jet's weapons. (FRIDAY had almost convinced Arthur that she was a helpful ghost. Merlin had no idea that an artificial intelligence could have such a mischievous streak.)

Merlin took a breath, prayed that the Avengers would make it on time, and pressed his hands against the ground.

Dragging out another string of magic to use, Merlin sent the tiny trickle into the ground, and sent his consciousness with it.

Amplifying his mental voice as much as he could, Merlin sent a cry reverberating through the earth.

" _MORGANA!_ "

* * *

 **Like? No like? I thought it was okay. Leave a review?**

- **Indigene Syke**


	21. Chapter 21

Merlin stared at the sky, waiting. He didn't have to wait very long.

Within an hour, there was the familiar rushing howl of a magical wind. Three figures stepped out of the whirlwind onto the grass. Morgana smirked. "Hello, Merlin," she crooned.

Merlin twiddled his fingers at the trio. He was utterly exhausted, but he couldn't sleep; he was in too much pain. It burned beneath his skin.

"Poor Merlin," Morgana murmured, striding forward and brushing her fingers down his chin. "How does it feel? All your friends have left you behind to save the world, and here you are, cowering in a circle of rocks. Pathetic."

Merlin raised his drooping head to glare at the three sorcerers. They all seemed smug, as if they'd already won the battle. There was a very good chance that was how it was going to go down. Merlin could almost feel his body shutting down. He wasn't going to last much longer, not with Arthur draining his magic.

"It seems as if you've won, Morgana," Merlin croaked. "I'm powerless. Does it feel as good as you thought it would?"

Morgana grinned. "It feels even better than I'd ever imagined." Morgana leaned close and whispered into Merlin's ear. "And now, I'm going to kill you."

Morgana wrapped a hand around Merlin's throat, lifting him into the air with a burst of inhuman strength.

Merlin hung there, desperate hands scrabbling at Morgana's wrist. He gasped and choked. His vision was spotted with white blobs, shivering and expanding.

Merlin's legs folded under him when Morgana dropped him.

Merlin's gasped, coughing, trying to get air through his stinging throat. In the back of his brain, he registered the sounds of gunfire and screaming.

He pressed himself onto his hands as soon as his vision cleared enough for him to see. The sight before him was rather horrifying.

An army of undead warriors was clawing its way out of the dirt and grass. The Quin-jet was hovering in the air, machine guns roaring. On the ground, making his way toward him, Arthur was cutting his way through the _draugr_. Excalibur, with its ability to kill the dead, was just the right tool for fighting the monsters, slicing the beasts into pieces.

Merlin blinked and glanced behind him. Morgana was struggling to her feet, a halo of bullets around hers making the dirt fly. Nimeuh was chanting, arms held above her head, and Loki was nowhere to be found.

Nimeuh finished her chant. The Quin-jet's wings exploded, fire and smoke billowing away from the bent and steaming metal. The Quin-jet hit the grass and crumpled into a burning mess.

Merlin pushed himself onto his knees. He honestly wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to stand, but he had to help. He couldn't just sit around, or he and everyone else would die.

Merlin staggered to his feet, but fell over, the world spinning like a top. His skin was hot, but Merlin felt cold.

Merlin coughed and felt blood drip down out of his nose. Merlin let it drip. He raised a hand toward Morgana and clenched his fist. Nothing happened. Merlin could feel heat behind his eyes, but he was pretty sure it wasn't magic.

Morgana scoffed. Nimueh stepped forward, and the pair of sorcerers stood over him, smirking. "Finish the job," Nimueh hissed.

Morgana nodded sharply. "My pleasure."

Morgana raised a hand to finish the task she had started earlier, but was interrupted by several multi-colored blasts of light meeting in midair, exploding above the trio in a giant fireball.

One blast of light was bright blue, another was yellow, and the third was greenish-gold. Merlin glanced upward. A red and gold blur slammed into the grass. Tony raised his gauntleted fists. "Reindeer Games," he said. "Not good to see you again." Vision alighted next to Tony.

"Ladies," he said, inclining his head to Nimueh and Morgana. "Is there any possibility of ending this without further violence?"

Thor slammed down next to Vision. "Listen to the purple weirdo, witches," Thor threatened. "Do not try us. Release your undead thralls!"

"Quit the lollygagging and just get them already!" Steve's voice was rather high-pitched from his position in Sam's arms.

Sam dropped Steve onto the grass and shot off to decapitate a pair of _draugr_. The Quin-jet hovered in the air, Clint and Natasha glaring from the front windshield. Wanda leaped out of the Quin-jet, rolling and coming to her feet, power ready.

"It looks as if the team is all here," Loki hissed. Morgana and Nimueh backed up until they were standing side by side with Loki.

"That's right," Tony said. "We're here to kick your—"

"Enough chit chat!" Steve cried, slamming his shield through the neck of a _draugr_. "Just get them already!"

* * *

The fight was brutal. More _draugr_ clawed their way out of the dirt to join the battle. There were enough _draugr_ to prevent all the Avengers and the King of Camelot from attacking Loki and his companions. The Avengers didn't even blink an eye at Arthur. They fought together as if they'd been doing it for years.

Wanda helped Merlin into the relative cover of one of the stones. "Are you all right?" Wanda asked.

Merlin shook his head. "You need to figure out how to cut Loki's connection with Morgana and Nimueh. Separate them. Vibranium. Use that."

Wanda nodded and hurried away, shouting into her comm.

Merlin watched the battle through hazy eyes. Breathing heavily, barely able to pull in enough air, Merlin reached for his magic. Even trying to touch it made his nervous system ramp into overdrive. His skin burned. Merlin coughed blood.

Things were blurry, and fading fast, but Merlin still saw Morgana coming for him. She jerked him to his feet and slammed him against the stone he was leaning on. Panic burst through him, clearing his head just the tiniest bit. Morgana held a knife to his throat. "Goodbye, Merlin," she hissed.

Wanda, who was running back, saw Morgana's hand move, as if in slow motion, to finish the job. She screamed, and pushed her magic faster. Morgana froze, encase in red energy. Wanda shoved her away. Morgana hit the ground, still clutching the knife, still frozen.

Merlin slumped to the ground again. Wanda knelt next to him and cradled his face. "Tell me how to help you!" She shouted. Wanda could feel Merlin's life force fading. Merlin was nearly unconscious now. Wanda stretched her magic forward, searching. She could feel the cold touch of metal from Merlin, as if he no longer generated heat.

Wanda wavered. She had no idea what she was doing. It was instinctive. Merlin twitched in her arms. _Follow the light_. Merlin's voice rang through Wanda's head.

Wanda searched with her magic, searching for the so-called _light_. She found the tiniest, thinnest thread, and followed it to a wall, blocking Merlin's magic.

Wanda pushed with her magic against the wall.

It gave the tiniest bit. She searched along the wall, feeling for defects, and she found one, where Merlin's magic was escaping through a tiny pinprick.

Wanda pushed her magic against the hole with all her strength. "Help me, Merlin!" she cried. "Fight for it!"

Merlin twitched again, and felt a rush of heat. His eyes popped open, glowing gold. The wall, weakened by time and Merlin's constant pushing, imploded. Merlin screamed, and he felt as if fire was ripping through him.

Time seemed to stop. A waved of actual fire blew through the air, blasting through the hordes of undead warriors. They disintegrated like dead leaves in a forest fire, leaving only the Avengers, the knights, and the three sorcerers, all of whom looked a bit scorched.

Merlin collapsed completely, then, unconscious, breathing ragged. Wanda shoved herself to her feet, and stumbled forward to join the rag-tag team, all of whom were lined up in front of Loki, Morgana, and Nimueh.

Wanda stretched her magic forward, now that she knew what she was looking for, she could feel the strings of magic connecting Loki to Morgana and Nimueh.

There was a silent standoff for a few heartbeats.

Steve ended the silence by hurling his shield toward Loki, flicked it away with his knife. Chaos erupted. Steve's shield slammed into the grass near Wanda's feet.

It was amazing how quickly the battle was over after that.

Morgana and Nimueh were on their knees, hands cuffed behind them, dresses torn and hair ragged.

Loki's hair was in the grasp of Thor. "Release your thralls, Loki," Thor growled into Loki's ear.

Loki grinned, teeth bloody. "I won't," he said. "And my _draugr_ will just keep coming. They'll never stop! I'll destroy all of you. I'll—"

Loki slumped forward, unconscious, as Thor slammed a fist into his face. Thor shrugged at the looks he got. "Loki has a twisted, and silver tongue. He could charm a bilgesnipe into surrender."

"Well now what do we do?" Tony asked, taking a deep breath of fresh air as his helmet folded away from his face.

Wanda picked up Steve's shield. The metal was cold against her fingers. "Vibranium effects magic," she said. "If we cut off Morgana and Nimueh's connection to Loki, I bet they would fade into non-existence."

Tony shrugged tiredly. "Worth a shot," Tony said. "Back to the tower, then? We can stick them in Merlin's old cell and Thor can take Loki back to Asgard."

Steve rubbed a hand over his face. "We need to make sure that the rest of the world is safe. Nat, Clint, Thor, take Merlin back to the tower and get him into medical. He looks pretty bad. Take Loki and friends, too."

* * *

 **Did you like it? I think I do. I hope I ended it all right.**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think, maybe?**

 **-Indigene Syke**


	22. Chapter 22

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **This is the epilogue. Which means that it's over. I have mixed feelings about that.**

* * *

The journey back to the tower was uneventful, although Morgana did try to fry Tony with a fireball and Nimueh tried to take control of Arthur's mind. Merlin and Loki remained unconscious. Merlin was the only one fussed over, though.

Arthur stayed near Merlin for the whole trip, leaning against the wall, and clutching Merlin's hand.

Wanda's hypothesis was found to be correct. Three hours after being locked into the vibranium holding cell, Morgana and Nimueh simply faded away. FRIDAY monitored the whole thing to make sure that there was no funny business.

The rest of the team, Vision, Cap, Sam, Tony, and Wanda reappeared at the tower in the late afternoon. Without a guiding force, most of the _draugr_ had turned on each other, destroying the majority of the armies.

Thor took Loki back to Asgard to see how he had escaped from his cell, and to make sure that it wouldn't happen again.

Merlin remained unconscious for only a day and a half, hooked up to IVs and heart monitors.

When he woke, Merlin found himself surrounded by the Avengers, with Arthur near his head. "Have you all just been watching me while I slept?"

"We were present while you were unconscious," Tony said, "But no, not really. I had FRIDAY keeping an eye on you."

Steve dragged Tony away, motioning to the rest of the Avengers. "We'll talk later," Steve told Merlin. "Good to see you awake, soldier."

"Thanks," Merlin said. The Avengers trooped out the door, waving and smiling over their shoulders. Merlin grinned tiredly at Arthur, who grinned back, blue eyes bright and happy. "The world truly is an amazing place," Arthur said, leaning forward. "Your team of friends showed me what a _movie_ is. We watched an epic about a war in space."

"That's nice," Merlin chuckled. "Did you like it?"

"It was... strange," Arthur mused. "But I enjoyed it."

Merlin smiled. "Yeah, the modern day has a lot of strange, but exciting, things." Merlin watched Arthur for a minute. His smile faded. "You have to leave, don't you?"

Arthur nodded.

Merlin sighed. "I'm actually a bit surprised that you managed to stay so long."

"I couldn't just leave without saying goodbye," Arthur smiled. Then his expression turned serious. "I can't believe you could do something so _stupid_." Arthur hissed. "Going on a potentially dangerous quest on your own!" Arthur whacked the back of Merlin's head, and it felt like old times. "That was the most idiotic thing I've ever seen you do. And then you nearly kill yourself trying to save the world."

Merlin shrugged. "It had to be done," he muttered resolutely. Merlin met Arthur's eyes. "But I am sorry."

Arthur softened. "I am glad to see you again, my friend," Arthur said, kneeling and clasping Merlin's hand in his. "But your time to come to Avalon is not yet. The world still needs you." Arthur saddened. "And Avalon needs me. I have to make sure that Gwaine hasn't managed to flood the lake again."

Merlin smiled sadly. He wished that the time had been longer, and it had been fantastic to see Arthur again, but Merlin could feel that Arthur was right. The world still needed him. For how much longer, Merlin couldn't say. But he would know when the time was right.

Merlin leaned forward and wrapped Arthur in a hug. "Thank you, sire."

Arthur winked. "Everyone misses you in Avalon," he said. Then he simply faded away.

* * *

Merlin was confined to bedrest for three weeks. Traces of the vibranium were left, but with Merlin's treatment for heavy metal poisoning going well, he was starting to feel better.

The Avengers teased him, the world celebrated the Avenger's heroics, attributing the victory to them. The Avengers said nothing about it, only let the world assume, and let Merlin fade into the background once more. Three months after saving the world, Merlin moved back to Europe.

All in all, things were back to normal.

Although, of course, there were the weekly "training" meetings at the tower.

Those never failed to be exciting.

* * *

 **Short, I know, but I feel satisfied with it. And this story in general. I probably won't continue this, but if any of you want to, I would be totally fine with it, as long as you asked me first!**

 **Thanks for sticking through this with me. I hope you enjoyed it! I know I did.**

 **-Indigene Syke**


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